Drakon Rev
by Ran Devoux
Summary: Back in the day, there was another team that stood out from the rest just like Team STRQ. Back then, the leader of that team had multiple moments of rising and falling. Cera Vermilion, a one-of-a-kind Faunus enrolls into Beacon Academy and encounters all of those rising and falling moments. Multiple OCs for story progression. [OC x OC x Qrow] Slow burner.
1. Lizard, Goldilocks, Yuu, and a Scarecrow

**Chapter 1 : Lizard, Goldilocks, Yuu, and a Scarecrow.**

* * *

 _A small girl was sitting in the middle of a burnt forest, her eyes wide and alert to the noise around her. Or lack thereof. Her bright red eyes darted to and fro, while her short, choppy blood red hair swished and swayed with each turn of her head. The smell of burnt wood lingered in the air, accompanied with the occasional charred wood splintering on its own._

 _At first glance, one would think of her to be a normal little red-headed girl. But upon closer inspection, you can see two small, dark red horns jutting out of her head._

 _"What- Oh my goodness… What happened here?" The child looked around to find the source of the voice, turning to stare at a pretty young woman with wavy black hair that ended at her waist._

 _She wore a simple purple sundress accompanied with a pair of black flats and a black ribbon tied in her hair. On her head were a pair of dark purple cat ears. If one had laid his eyes on her, they would truly think that she was breathtaking._

 _A hand was over her mouth as she surveyed the damage done to the forest. The child got up from her kneeling position as the woman's purple eyes landed on her._

 _The girl was frail and too thin for the woman's liking, and she's certain that a girl around her age shouldn't be that skinny. The bushes behind the woman rustled, revealing a toned and muscled man that was only taller than her by a few inches._

 _His choppy, medium-length hair was as dark as the woman's, although the cat ears he had were a slate blue. His eyes were only a shade darker than his cat ears, even though they seemed to stand out a bit more due to his white unbuttoned shirt and black pants. Covering his feet were matching black shoes that clearly didn't have enough detail for the small girl to keep staring at them._

 _The girl's eyes darted between the two before she took a hesitant step backwards. The cat woman's eyes widened just a bit before she stretched out an arm to her._

 _"W-wait!" The woman quickly glanced at her companion before her attention was back to the girl. "Do… Do you know what happened here? And where are your parents? Aren't they worried?" The child only tilted her head at her questions. Her mouth slowly opened as her soft voice trickled out._

 _"All I remember was that it was really hot… A-and I wanted it to stop… I don't know where my mummy and daddy are, they- they were just with me and then it got r-really hot..." the girl was sniffling every now and then, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill over. Nonetheless, she continued, "I-I didn't know what was going on, b-but daddy said that everything would be fine… B-but when I woke up everything was burnt and mummy and daddy weren't around anymore…!" It was then that the floodgates opened and she began wailing loudly._

 _The woman had a small, sad smile on her face as she slowly walked to the child. She leaned down in front of her, gathering her in her arms as she gently rubbed circles on her back. The girl hiccuped multiple times, the feeling of being alone without her parents overwhelming her. She had cried for a good couple of minutes before slowly slipping into sleep. The cat lady gently picked her up in her arms, carrying her to her companion. Her eyes were on the girl's tear-stained face the entire time as the man quickly wiped off a tear rolling down her cheek._

 _"What should we do, Grace?"_

 _"I… I want to take her in, Aoi. Until her parents find her." The man named Aoi sighed at that. "Just- just look at her, Aoi! She won't survive on her own! She's… She's just a child!" She argued frantically, making sure to keep an eye on the volume of her voice since she doesn't want to wake up the girl. Aoi gave Grace a peck on the cheek after a considerable amount of time, gently rubbing the child's small hand before a smile illuminated his face._

 _"She'll need a nice, warm bath and lots of hot food, Grace. Think you can handle that?" Grace only returned his smile with one of her own as they began walking back to their home._

 _"I'll be done with it before you can even get to the halfway mark in the current book that you're reading!"_

* * *

Cera Vermilion looked around her as the principal spoke through the microphone at the podium. To think that she would be here at last; Beacon Academy. She didn't feel as nervous as most of the kids that she could see, but maybe that was just because she was a Faunus. Cera just wanted this to be a quick four years; go to classes, do homework, do missions with her team. She didn't want to socialize, even if her parents told her to "play nice" and to "not be antisocial". Her arms crossed over her chest as she let out a small huff.

Her hair had grown longer as it now reached to the small of her back, bangs cut straight and neatly across her forehead as they were long enough to hide most of her eyebrows. Gone were the large, doe eyes as they had gotten sharper over the years of training and education. She now stood at a height of 5'5", her body toned and slightly tanned. Of course, her horns and tail have gotten larger and longer, but that was normal for someone like her to the point where there really was no need to comment on it.

Cera's outfit, of course, had also changed. She now had on a black tank top with an unzipped crop leather jacket in white layered over it, and if one looked at the back of her leather jacket they would find her emblem; a maroon silhouette of a dragon's head with a ring around it, the horns slightly poking out of the circumference of it. A pair of black combat boots reached just underneath her knees, most of it covered in what looked to be gold armor. The same type of armor could be seen on the shoulders of her jacket, and on her white gloves as they resembled gauntlets. A thin, black ribbon was loosely wrapped around her neck multiple times, creating a makeshift necklace of some sorts. Finishing her outfit is a thin, gold chain in the same manner of her ribbon on her right side and a rather large two-handed nodachi attached to her back.

The redhead glanced around her at the various students. She wasn't sure on what to think, especially when there were this many people. Are all of them newcomers?

"Hey, girly! With the horns!" Her eyes shifted towards the direction of the voice, her body turning slightly as a single eyebrow was raised.

The boy had choppy platinum blonde hair and piercing amber eyes. He was taller than Cera by a few centimeters, his tan and muscled body slightly darker than her own. His eyes were sharp, an air of charisma around him as the smirk on his lips was plastered onto him for what seemed like an eternity.

He was wearing a baggy lime green sweater with a white t-shirt on underneath, his hands and fingers wrapped in a roll of bandages. A black leather choker was around his neck, along with multiple black and gold bangles around his wrists that clink against each other whenever he moved. Black sneakers and baggy black jeans with a touch of silver armor on either side of his legs finished his ensemble, although there was also the fact that Cera had to factor in the large, crescent-shaped weapon with a handle being carried around as if it was a guitar case on his right shoulder.

She placed a hand on her hip, the eyebrow still raised as she waited for what he wanted to say to her. Of course, if he was taking too long she would go back to observing the people around her.

"Do you have a team?" Cera blinked at the question. Couldn't he see that she didn't want to be in one? She opened her mouth to give him her reply, but closed it as soon as a gloved fist smacked him over the head. "O-ow! What was that for, Nero?!" The blonde shouted, his heated glare on another male.

The man- who she assumed to be 'Nero' -had white hair that was slightly curly at the ends of a few strands. His bangs were swept to the right, unlike the blonde's whose hair was swept to the left. His eyes were also sharp and were a piercing blue, although he had longer lashes. Cera wasn't sure about his build due to his outfit, but she can clearly see that he had a strong jawline and a silver cross earring piercing with an ear cuff attached to it by a thin chain on his right ear.

All that Cera could see from his outfit was a black trench coat, black skinny jeans and black boots that had their tips covered with a silver plating of some sort along with a pair of white gloves. Her eyebrows furrowed. Where was his weapon?

"You shouldn't ask strangers if they want to join our team, Orel. Plus, we're not even sure if they will allow teams to be made." His voice was deep, almost charming. She wouldn't be surprised if he had a group of girls crowding him in the near future. The blonde- who is now known as 'Orel' –guffawed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well at least I'm not the one that _looks_ like a stranger! Come on, Nero, a black trench coat?! You might as well grab a fedora, tip it and say 'milady' to every girl you make eye contact with!" Nero frowned at that.

"It gives off a mysterious vibe."

" **What** mysterious vibe?! All I'm getting is a drug dealer vibe from you!" Cera merely shook her head at the scene before walking off. The principal had long finished his speech, and she was supposed to go find the ballroom and bring along her sleeping bag. Then there was also getting ready for some sort of initiation the next day in the morning.

It slightly irked her.

* * *

Cera lightly scratched at her cheek. She wasn't sure what to make of the other newcomers, let alone if she was going to even get along with them.

Multiple footsteps were heading her way as she walked into the ballroom to set up her sleeping bag in the corner, her eyebrow slightly raised as she looked behind her. Her face was deadpanned.

"Oh! It's the lady with the horns!" Orel shouted out rather happily, a large grin on his face before he decided to pounce on his already messy sleeping bag. Nero only let out a small sigh as he leaned against the entrance to the ballroom.

"I'm certain that she has a name, just like everybody else." He walked over to the girl as he held out his gloved right hand, the faintest of smiles on his face. "I'm Nero Nightingale, and over there would be Orel Glorea. You are…?" The redhead looked up at him, uncertain. Nonetheless, she slowly lifted her left hand to grip his own in a modern handshake. She didn't want to be rude.

"...Cera. Cera Vermilion."

"Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Vermilion." Cera raised an eyebrow at that; Ms. Vermilion? "As you can tell, Ms. Vermilion, we do have another member with us. He's currently occupied with saying his farewells to his family."

Cera only nodded her head ever so slightly in understanding. She didn't have that many people to say goodbye to when she left for Beacon, as it was only her mother, father, and the unborn little sister she was going to have. The redhead didn't go out much. She thought that there was no need for it since all she did was sit in her father's library and read to her heart's content.

It didn't do much for her except turn her into a shut-in. She thought back to staring at the kids that were her age playing outside whenever she was in the library. None of them had the same horns as her, or even the same tail. All they had were either floppy ears and a short fluffy tail or some soft pointed ears or an alluring tail that swished this way and that. Before she even got to know the kids she felt like an outcast.

Now here she was, being plummeted into an academy with multiple different races, multiple different species, and multiple different personalities. Cera was as uncomfortable as she was going to get, if not a little more.

"Sorry I'm late! Grandmother decided to give me tons of sweets for good luck." The three of them turned their heads to the door frame as Orel's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Yukio! Your grandma better have taken into account that you'll be in a team with three other people!" 'Yukio' let out a small laugh, a smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sure she did, Orel."

Yukio was slightly taller than Nero with fair skin, his black hair held up in a high ponytail as it ended at his shoulders. His charcoal eyes were soft as they held a certain warmth to them, making Cera feel at ease for some unknown reason. His bangs were chopped and styled to make it look like he was filling in certain gaps on his face such as his forehead or in-between his eyebrows, but it didn't bother her that much. She practically did the same with her own bangs, except with her forehead.

He wore what looked to be an unbuttoned dark blue military jacket with a light blue plaid shirt underneath. White jeans and a pair of dark brown dress shoes along with a thin silver chain around his neck made him seem like a very desired man. Surely he knew what they would be facing?

His eyes landed on Cera as he walked over to them, carrying a wooden box that looked to be filled to the brim with sweets of all kinds. Yukio quickly set down the box on the ground, his right hand free to give her a handshake. She gave him the same handshake that she gave Nero earlier, her eyes wandering to what looked to be a staff on his back. He only gave a small chuckle as she continued observing.

"Ms. Vermilion, this is Yukio Akashi. Yukio, this is Cera Vermilion." Nero had given them a quick introduction, keeping in mind that Cera still needed to unpack her belongings.

"Well it's great to meet you, Cera. I've known Orel and Nero ever since we were kids, so it's understandable if you feel out of the loop."

Cera felt more than out of the loop as she saw the trio talk to each other with so much energy.

She felt like she didn't belong.

The redhead blinked as she saw the slight movement of Orel's hand, beckoning her to join them. She wasn't sure if she saw it correctly, and decided to wait a few more seconds as she listened to them continue their conversation. Her eyes blinked as she saw it again, her gaze trailing up to his face as he had a certain inviting aura around him. Cera had visibly gulped as she slowly walked to them, butterflies in her stomach fluttering about. She stood still in front of all of them, letting out a small cough as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Orel grinned as he smacked her on the back.

"See! Wasn't that hard, Lizard!" Cera's eye visibly twitched as she gave the blonde a weak glare.

"What kind of nickname is 'Lizard'?" She grumbled, obviously displeased by it.

Nero had only given her a polite smile as Yukio chuckled. The latter was occupied with watching over Orel as he was practically inhaling sweets which left Nero to give her his honest opinion. "Truthfully I find it a rather adorable nickname, Ms. Vermilion." She gave him a menacing glare, but he paid no mind to either of the actions. "Now then, shall we have our fill of sugar before Orel consumes all of it?"

Cera only pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Goldilocks can get a stomachache from eating too much for all I care, and should we really be eating this many sweets before sleeping?" Orel sputtered in the middle of enjoying some soft caramel.

"G-Goldilocks?!"

She didn't even like sweets.

* * *

It was well late into the night as Cera was in the middle of reading a book. She didn't have much to do as she couldn't sleep, especially with Orel snoring to his heart's content. Then there was also the fact that Nero and Yukio were still awake, their quiet conversation still ongoing despite the unconscious blonde.

Cera let out a small sigh as she placed her bookmark on the new chapter she turned to, closing it before leaving the book next to her sleeping bag. She wearily looked over to the two men that were awake, an eyebrow raised.

"Shouldn't you two be sleeping?" She half-whispered, her voice loud enough to get their attention but not loud enough to disturb other students. Nero only gave her a small smile while tilting his head.

"We do this every now and then, Ms. Vermilion. I apologize if it's something that will leave you awake for a while."

"What's there to talk about anyways…?" She mumbled. Surprisingly enough, Yukio was able to hear her question, as he beckoned her to join the two of them. The redhead crawled towards them, a questioning look on her face.

"Well, we were discussing about what we might encounter during our four years here. Have any ideas on what could happen, Cera?"

She took a moment to think about it. During her training with her father, she had it drilled into her head that anything can happen, even if it seems like everything is peaceful. Four years was an awfully long time, but it was understandable. You couldn't become a Huntsman in just one day.

"...Anything can happen in the time spam of four years, whether it's good or bad things. We just have to keep our eyes out for anything suspicious or dangerous." The two males let out a small laugh, to which Cera had glared at them. "What are you laughing at?"

Nero shook his head, the smile still evident on his face. "We're not laughing at you or anything at all, Ms. Vermilion. It's just that you sounded as if you're already a Huntress, yet here you are at Beacon Academy with everybody else aspiring to become one."

At this point, Cera had already crawled back to her sleeping bag, curling up into a ball on her side with puffed cheeks. She didn't care if Orel was still snoring loudly. She would try to sleep with it going on no matter what.

"Good night, Cera."

It wasn't until Yukio and Nero had gotten into their sleeping bags that Cera decided to reply.

"...Good night, Yuu, Scarecrow."

Low chuckles were heard before all was silent with the exception of the snoring.

* * *

 **Trivia :**

 **\- The title of this story is Russian for "Dragon's Roar".**

 **\- Cera's casual theme is an orchestrated version of 'Connect' from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.**

 **\- Orel's casual theme is 'Last Train Home' from Anohana.**

 **\- Nero's casual theme is an instrumental version of 'I Left You Not Sure If I Did' from Anohana.**

 **\- Lastly, Yukio's casual theme is the piano version of 'Desiderium' from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.**


	2. Initiation Mayhem

**Chapter 2 : Initiation Mayhem**

* * *

 _A young Cera was panting heavily, her white shirt and brown shorts stained with grass and dirt as the sword in her hand felt like heavy lead to her. Aoi held an identical sword in front of him, his breathing steady as he looked down at the girl._

 _"Come on Cera. You can do it, I know you can." Grace had walked out of the house, her hands covered in oven mitts as she looked on with a worrying gaze. She was wearing a large shirt and sweatpants, most likely due to the ever growing bump that was her stomach._

 _"Aoi, dear. Maybe you should stop for now. It's been a week or so and she's only getting even more tired than before." Cera only shook her head, determined to get this done with so she can move on with her training. It felt like centuries before Aoi gave her a small nod, which was the signal for Cera to begin._

 _Cera ran forward, slicing upwards as Aoi had easily blocked it. She then sliced downwards diagonally to her left, sliced upwards again, then downwards. This pattern continued for a while, to which it had no effect on Aoi who was effortlessly blocking each and every slice. It wasn't until Cera's eyes sharpened that Aoi's had widened._

 _The redhead jumped right after doing a downward slash, rotating her body before using the force of gravity to pull her sword out from under her to deliver another slash, although this was in mid-air. Aoi had quickly jumped back, Cera unceremoniously dropping her sword on the ground as she fell over face first._

 _Grace had gasped, quickly running over to the child as she scooped her up in her arms. Cera's eyes slowly opened as she let out a loud yawn._

 _"I'm tired, mummy…" Aoi walked up to the two of them as he had given her a soft smile. A chuckle escaped from his lips._

 _"Get all the rest you need, baby girl. You've earned it."_

* * *

"Gooooood morning, Lizard!" Cera groaned as she walked to her locker, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. She clearly remembered the warning about how Orel's sugar high worked a bit differently than others; it starts right after he wakes up in the morning. Judging from how many sweets he ate last night, he'll be hyper for a long while. "So Lizard! Are you going to join our team? Huh? Well? You **know** you want to say yes! I can just **feel** it!" She opened her locker, taking out her nodachi before slamming the door shut. Unfortunately, Orel already had his giant weapon with him, so she couldn't get him to go away no matter what.

"Goldilocks, I swear to the four maidens if you're going to-"

"Students, you are now going to be heading out to begin your initiation. I repeat, students, you are now going to be heading out to begin your initiation." The voice through the intercom was loud and clear, increasing Cera's already growing headache. Nonetheless, she filed out of the locker room and began heading outside to what appeared to be a cliff with stone tablets in a straight line. There were already some other students there, although Yukio and Nero were still able to stand out from the small crowd.

"Yukio! Nero! When did you two get here? Boy, you two are fast! Can I be as fast as you guys one day? Oh, but that's only if I break apart my weapon into-" Cera slapped a hand over Orel's mouth as the rest of his sentence was reduced to muffled noise. The principal, Norwen, had cleared his throat as he began to talk.

"Your initiation will begin after you stand on these squares, but first, I'll clear up some rumors that have been floating about." The students looked up at the bluenette, clearly curious. "There will be teams. But, the first person that you make eye contact with when you land in Emerald Forest will be your first team member. There have been cases here and there about students dying in the forest, so do your best to be careful. Do you understand?"

Students began to stand on the square stones, excited about the fact that there will be teams but also pressured to do their best as to not get mauled or murdered by any Grimm. Cera walked up until she stood on a square of her own, her toes lightly tapping against it as she adjusted her shoes. She glanced over to her left, seeing a girl with black and red hair wearing a white cloak. Next to her was Yukio, who had given her a small wave to which she returned a nod. Past him, she saw Nero who was looking down at the forest below them.

The redhead looked to her right, Orel standing on the square next to her. On his right was a man with black hair and red eyes that was wearing a gray shirt and black pants. As soon as they had made eye contact he winked at her, to which Cera's eye visibly twitched at. Past him was a girl with the same black hair and red eyes, although she was wearing red and black armor and had a weapon that was identical to her own. She wondered if her and the man in the gray shirt were related. A few people away, Cera saw a blonde haired and lilac-eyed man wearing multiple shades of brown. To her, the one thing that stood out was the cloth that was tied around his upper left arm.

Her gaze wandered to the forest below the cliff, a few birds flying about here and there. It seemed dense, but if you looked farther ahead you can see a few clearings here and there, along with what appeared to be old ruins of some sort.

"I trust that everybody's ready?" Norwen questioned. Not one sound came out from any of the students as they all got into their ready positions.

Yukio had out his weapon; a slate blue and silver double bladed staff that was being slowly spun in his right hand. Nero's weapon was a pair of pistols that were attached to each other by a chain at the end of their butts. His knees were bent as one of the pistols was held in his left hand while the other was dangling near his feet since he was holding onto the chain itself with his right hand. Orel was grasping onto his weapon with both hands, holding it up in front of him as he was crouching down, waiting for something to pop out right in front of him from the forest. Cera held onto her nodachi, keeping it parallel with her forearm as she fully crouched down onto one of her knees, her right palm flat against the stone with her left arm spread outwards.

"The initiation will now begin." With that, students one by one were flung into the forest. A few of them had screamed, to which Cera winced at while she was waiting to be launched. She looked around the forest, aiming for a suitable landing spot. It was then that she saw Nero flying through the air, his trench coat billowing behind him. She glanced at Yukio, watching him before he was launched in the same manner. Her eyes followed his figure, watching his weapon twirl in front of him.

Cera closed her eyes, slowly breathing as she waited. It wasn't until she felt a change in gravity and the feeling of flying through the air that she opened her eyes. She looked at her surroundings as she began to descend, finding a suitably large enough tree to land on. Cera turned her body slightly, both of her hands grasping onto the handle of her sword as she stabbed it into the trunk of the tree. Her feet followed right after it, landing on either side of the nodachi. A few cracks were heard at first, but then it turned into the full out sound of the tree falling onto the ground due to how much power was behind the landing.

The redhead pulled her sword out of the tree as she surveyed the area around her, until she heard a familiar voice right above her.

"Catch you on the flip side, Lizard!" Cera only shook her head at Orel's antics before running forward. She didn't get far as she had roughly bumped into someone's chest, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

"You really need to be more careful, Ms. Vermilion." She slowly lifted her head at the sound of Nero's voice, making eye contact with him. He had a light smile on his face as Cera grumbled.

"You're just too tall to see me, Scarecrow."

"My apologies, then." She slowly got up, ignoring how close they were as she dusted off some dirt on her jacket. Nero followed suit, doing the same with his trench coat. "Are you alright, Ms. Vermilion?" Cera looked up at him, glaring.

"If we're going to be on the same team, then stop calling me by my last name. My name is Cera, not 'Ms. Vermilion'." She turned around, walking off towards where she hypothesized the ruins were at. Nero trailed behind her, letting out a small chuckle.

"Of course, Ms. Cera." Cera only groaned quietly at that. It was better than her last name, at least. Now all he had to do was get rid of the 'Miss' part and she'll most likely be able to have a few _somewhat_ normal conversations in the near future. She continued walking until something moved in the bushes, to which she stopped mid-step and held her arm out to her side. Cera quickly unsheathed her nodachi, deflecting the large black claws that swiped at her.

The blade of her nodachi had multiple parallel lines in the blade, which made Nero curious. Was her sword just like Yukio's? He had no time to dwell on it as more movement happened in the bushes around them. His chain clinked about as he spread his arms out in front of him, his fingers on the triggers. Beowolves and a few Ursai surrounded them on all sides, their throats emitting low, deep growls.

Cera stood with him back-to-back, easily holding onto the handle of the sword that was as tall as her. Clearly the thing looked to be heavy. But here the Faunus was, using it as if it was a normal one-handed sword.

"Have a plan?" She mumbled, her eyes taking in the number of Grimm that surrounded them.

Twenty four.

Nero chuckled before he shot at a few, the bullets piercing through their bodies as if it was a hot knife cutting through butter. "We cut them down."

The two broke apart from each other, dancing to their own tune yet they moved to the same fast paced rhythm that most of the Grimm couldn't decipher. Cera swiftly dodged a claw from a crouched Beowolf by doing a quick split in mid-air. She swung her sword down, chopping the paw off before landing on her feet to decapitate the monster.

Nero was slowly breathing as he continued shooting, small, steady streams of dark gray smoke seeping out of his mouth. He began swinging his pistols about as blades protruded from the guns, the pistols now resembling twin sickles. Smoke continued billowing out of his mouth as the sickles moved faster. With each passing moment, his swinging accelerated bit by bit, although if one could slow down time they could see that the same dark gray smoke was also seeping out of his weapons. Bullets were shot left and right as limbs and bone flew in the air, cleanly sliced off with no effort.

The makeshift duo regrouped, the human reloading his empty bullet chambers with the Faunus adjusting her hand on the grip of her field sword. They surveyed the area that was now littered with the dead, smoking bodies. No movement was made as they waited for a sound. The rustling of a bush or leaves falling, anything of the sort. The two visibly relaxed as Cera sheathed her nodachi. She glanced over at Nero's mouth, the smoke now fading into wisps before it disappeared altogether. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What was that?" Nero looked down at her with a questioning gaze, wondering what she was asking about. "There was smoke coming out of your mouth. Black smoke." His eyes widened just a fraction as he registered what she was talking about.

"My semblance?"

"Semblance..." She clearly had never heard of it before. In her years of training as a young child, her father had never spoke to her about… Well, whatever semblances are. A light chuckle escaped from Nero's lips.

"Something that is fueled by aura. Every living thing has an aura, all you have to do is find it. Maybe you'll figure it out one day, Ms. Cera."

"Lizard! Nero! Oh god wherever you guys are HELP! **I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET DOWN**!" Cera's eyes widened at the loud yelling as she dashed to where it most likely came from with Nero in tow. After a few moments of running through bushes she came into a clearing with broken stones and pillars scattered about. Most of them had caught her attention, such as the multiple silver pocket watches on the large slab in what seemed to be a stone temple. But what had really caught her attention was the fact that Orel was in one of the talons of a giant black bird with a crested white headpiece that resembled bone.

Yukio ran towards them, panting heavily as he wiped some sweat off of his brow.

"I've- I've been chasing that thing ever since we landed. While Orel was still doing his landing the giant thing suddenly snatched him up and flew off towards here." Cera just stared at the bird flying about with blank eyes. For him to get snatched up by a bird without hearing the wings flapping or a large caw…

"Was he doing something in the middle of the air?" Nero cleared his throat.

"In the past, Orel was known to… Do flips and tricks in the air when he was jumping on his trampoline." Her left eye visibly twitched at the new information. That explains why he couldn't see the bird.

He was busy messing around.

Rustling leaves were heard as the redhead glanced to her left, finding the black and red clad woman and the man with the gray shirt hopping backwards with their weapons out. Running out of the bushes was the girl in the white cloak and the blonde haired man, with the latter yelling something about a giant snake.

Behind them, a gigantic snake had emerged from the dense forest, its tongue slithering out every now and then to taste the air around it. The body was black, its piercing red eyes locking onto the white cloaked girl as it continued slithering towards the group. More rustling was heard, as suddenly a white version of the snake appeared. As the snakes had fully left the bushes, Cera saw that they were connected in the center.

Orel's yell reached her ears as her attention turned back to the giant bird. Her eyes narrowed as she unsheathed her nodachi, her knees bent as she was preparing to run in. Yukio and Nero followed suit, their gazes lingering on Cera.

"So, what should we do, Ms. Cera?" Her eyes watched Orel's figure flailing about, questioning where his weapon was. She looked around the clearing until she had found the damned thing, Yukio also noticing it.

"We'll clip its wings." With that, she ran in, hopping on the ruins to get even higher in the air. Nero did the same, although he had taken a different path. The white haired male landed on a tall cliff, aiming his pistols at the bird as it continued flying about. His eyes sharpened as he began pulling the triggers, the bullets flying straight and true to their target.

The bird let out an inhumane shriek as it turned in the air while flying upwards. The bird nosedived towards the cliff, forcing Nero to jump off as it slammed headfirst into the rocks. The bird shook its head before flapping its wings at Nero, multiple sharp feathers whizzing through the air. Nero clicked his tongue as he continued shooting, knocking a few of the feathers off course.

Meanwhile, Yukio had ran straight to Orel's weapon, grabbing it by the handle with one hand effortlessly. He then jumped up onto the ruins, hopping over to Nero's location. His free hand reached behind his back to grab his staff, smacking one end of it against a broken wall. Blades popped out of the sides as it had multiple sections resembling a long, toothed sword.

Nero landed on a large boulder, his pistols already out of bullets. He covered his face with his arms as he waited for the pain to arrive, only to see Yukio jumping towards him out of the corner of his eye.

The black-haired man slashed his sword multiple times in front of him, the sections of the blade extending far enough to reach Nero. His bladed whip got rid of the rest of the feathers before it retracted back into its sword form. He then lifted up Orel's weapon behind him, letting out a low growl before flinging it with great force to Cera who was standing on the talon that held Orel.

* * *

"Oh! Hey, Lizard! Who'd you run into and make into your partner?" Cera nonchalantly looked down at Orel, who had a large grin on his face.

"Scarecrow."

"Nero?" She only let out a small hum in reply, which Orel had taken as a 'yes'. "See? We're not that bad! You'd fit right in with us!" Cera quickly froze at what he had just said, a look of surprise on her face as she stared at him. "You know, you look pretty cute like that, Lizard." Her eyes narrowed as she lifted her hand high above her head, tightly grabbing onto Orel's weapon that was thrown at her from afar.

"Shut up, Goldilocks." Cera swung Orel's weapon at the bird's leg, cleanly slicing through it as they fell onto the ground beneath them. The redhead slowly stood up as Yukio and Nero had reached them, their gazes locked onto the bird. Cera held out the giant crescent blade towards Orel, who had climbed out of the severed talon and thanked her before resting the weapon over one of his shoulders.

"Yukio! Nero! You two have showed off enough. Now it's my turn!" Orel slammed his weapon into the ground, hiding behind it as the Nevermore nosedived towards them. The other three jumped out of the way, the bird's beak making contact with the gigantic, curved blade. Orel bashed his shoulder against the other side, bracing himself as the sheer weight of the avian pushed him back.

His eyes began glowing, a thin ring of light forming around his feet with the light rising upwards. Orel let out a shout before grabbing the handle of his weapon, lifting it up to smack the Nevermore's head to the side. The ring around his feet faded away as he leaped onto the rocks, passing by Cera who was slowly breathing with her eyes closed.

"You're up next, Lizard! Keep him in place for me!" The horned girl paid no mind to him as her eyes slowly opened. She jumped down, pulling out her nodachi before landing on the back of the Nevermore. Cera stabbed the bird in the back mercilessly, gripping onto the handle tightly as the thing shrieked and flitted about in the air.

The Nevermore looked up at the sun, seeing a silhouette of a man. Orel was descending downward, his bandaged hands and fingers wrapped in what looked to be a never ending length of very thin golden thread. Most of it trailed behind him, as if it was a makeshift cape. Orel flipped, moving some of the thread in front of him as he barely nicked the sharp beak of the Nevermore. The thread grabbed onto the beak before the large trail practically surrounded the giant bird's body.

Cera took that as her cue to get off, ripping her sword out of the bird before jumping down. Yukio came in from the side, cradling her in his arms as they landed safely next to Nero and Orel. He gently set her down, giving her a polite smile. Orel looked up at the back of the bird, a smirk on his face.

"Ready to see some raining chicken?" The redhead only shrugged her shoulders as she watched the thread. The golden thread visibly tightened as Orel harshly pulled, the thread wrapping around the avian while ceasing its movements. He pulled the strings one last time, the sound of what seemed to be a horrible screeching noise from a violin piercing through the air. The thread sliced through the body of the bird, leaving nothing else but a pile of smoking Nevermore chunks that plummeted to the ground beneath it.

The string retracted to Orel as he unwound it from his fingers, moving as if it had a mind of its own to take on the shape of his giant crescent blade. The blonde swiped his arm over it, having it magically turn back into the weapon he had when he met Cera.

"Well? How was I, Lizard?! Was I cool, or cool? I'm pretty sure I was cool." A corner of Cera's mouth turned upwards as her arms crossed underneath her breasts. She walked towards the stone slab that had the pocket watches, grabbing one for herself and three more. The Faunus threw one at Yukio and another at Nero. Cera walked back to Orel, nonchalantly looking down at the extra pocket watch she had as he waited for an answer. Her arm stretched out towards him, the chain of the pocket watch laced around her fingers as it slowly spun in the air.

"You weren't that bad, Goldilocks." A grin was plastered on his face as he accepted the relic from her before wrapping an arm around her neck, pulling her towards him as if he was going to give her a noogie. A grunt escaped Cera's lips. "Never mind, I take it back. I take it back!" Yukio and Nero only laughed at Cera's predicament, fully knowing that this is what Orel usually does whenever a compliment was given to him. It didn't matter if it was big or small, he just enjoyed bathing in them.

* * *

"Were they to your liking, Norwen?" The principal turned his head ever so slightly at the sound of the feminine voice as the feed cut off from the many cameras placed in the Emerald Forest. A hand was placed on his chin as he quickly thought it over.

"...I suppose." He pulled out a scroll, the basic information of the four students clearly visible as he read the names.

Orel Glorea.

Cera Vermilion.

Yukio Arashi.

Nero Nightingale.

He then slid a finger across the screen, four different students shown that were also included in the initiation;

Summer Rose.

Taiyang Xiao Long.

Raven Branwen.

Qrow Branwen.

Clearly this would be an interesting four years.

* * *

 **Trivia hour~ :  
**

 **\- From shortest to tallest, it would be;**

 **Cera at 5'5" [165.1cm]**

 **Orel at 5'9" [175.26cm]**

 **Nero at 5'11" [180.34cm], and**

 **Yukio at 6' [182.88cm].**

 **\- To get a perspective of how long Cera's nodachi is, it is 5 shaku. Shaku is a Japanese unit of length, and it's traditionally varied by location or use. Now, it's standardized as 10/33 meters [which is 30.3 centimeters or 11.9 inches].**

 **1 shaku or less is for tanto [knife or dagger], 1 - 2 shaku is for shoto [wakizashi or kodachi], while 2 shaku or more are for daito [or longswords, such as katana or tachi].**

 **Since Cera's nodachi is 5 shaku, that makes it approximately 151.5cm.**


	3. Stark White Ocean

**Chapter 3 : Stark White Ocean**

* * *

 _Cera quietly gazed through one of the many windows in the home that she lived in. Outside, kids with cat tails and bunny ears played a game with each other. Her eyes shifted away from them and back to the rather large open book in her hands._

 _Aoi and Grace had a large variety of books that she could read. There was a section for history, a section for science, even a section for romance novels which Grace enjoyed reading from. Cera didn't really understand it, although what she did understand was the large words that were used in the history book she was reading. It fascinated her on how there were four girls and an old man, and how the four girls helped the sheltered man find the greater things in life by going outside and enjoying the world._

 _"What'cha reading there, kiddo?" Her thumb landed on the spot that she paused at, her gaze moving to Aoi that stood in the doorway. She held out the book to him, showing him the cover and the back of it as he smiled._

 _"I'm reading about the four maidens. There's proof that they have existed, isn't there? And is it possible for there to be different maidens other than the four original?" Aoi chuckled._

 _"I'm not sure, Cera. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. And as for there being multiple maidens, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Cera gave him a warm smile before standing up as he had beckoned her to walk to him. "Come. We have an announcement to make, and I think you'll enjoy it." The two of them walked side by side down the hall and into the living room, one of Cera's eyebrows raised slightly._

 _"Oh? And what news is that?"_ _Her eyes glanced at_ _Grace_ _, who had a serene smile on her face._

 _"You're having a little sister."_

 _"You mean…? You went and got the gender of the baby?" Grace slowly nodded, a certain light in her eyes that told Cera she already had the perfect name for her._

 _"...Blake. She'll be our little Blake Belladonna, with Cera Vermilion as her big sister."_

* * *

"You know what? This calls for a celebration! A **huge** celebration!" Orel shouted out, arms around Yukio and Nero's necks. Cera only rolled her eyes before a tiny smile emerged from her stoic face.

Yesterday after they had returned from the Emerald Forest, they were given their teams. The four of them were dubbed as Team OCYN. Surprisingly, she was appointed to be the leader.

Cera had thought that Orel would be the leader, but apparently Orel didn't mind not being the leader. According to him, it was less work and he did better with listening to instructions rather than giving them.

Other teams were made, but unfortunately, most of the students weren't able to pass the initiation and therefore had to be sent home either by aircraft or by coffin, which in and of itself was depressing.

The one team that caught her attention was Team STRQ. Her eyes scanned the members; white cloak, blonde and tan, black and red, gray and black. Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, Qrow Branwen. She was right to assume that the last two were related in one way or another.

Now here was team OCYN, currently decorating their room that they would be bunking in together for the next four years.

Thrilling.

They decided on one person getting their own corner of the room, to which nobody minded. Surprisingly, Yukio's grandmother had sent him a dark blue electric kotatsu, so they just placed it in the middle of the room with the four matching cushions that came along with it. It was entertaining to see what they had placed in their own corner of the room, to say the least.

Orel's corner was already messy. Clothes were strewn across everywhere and his bed wasn't even made. He had multiple band posters up on the wall, even on the ceiling. On his nightstand was an open bag of gummy sweets, courtesy of Yukio's grandmother. Cera quietly thought to herself, wondering if Yukio's grandmother wouldn't mind teaching her a few things.

Yukio's corner had paper scrolls with different kanji written on them. When Cera had questioned him about it, he said that the one above his pillow was 'courage', the one to its left was 'heart', while the one on the right was 'hope'. A coffee table was pushed up against the wall on one side of the bed, multiple little souvenirs and handmade gifts from his grandmother. On the nightstand he had on the other side of the bed was a box of green tea, although if one looked in the small drawer they would see more boxes of varying types of tea.

Between Yukio's corner and Orel's were glass arch double doors that lead outside to a rather spacious balcony. With matching white curtains, of course.

In Nero's area, there were multiple vials of dust neatly organized on his dresser. Hanging on the walls were plenty of magazines for his pistols, while at the end of his bed was a small chest of tea. Cera raised an eyebrow wondering if Yukio and Nero had the same taste buds.

Last was Cera's corner. One would say 'last but not least', but there wasn't really much in her corner. All she had sent with her were necessities, extra clothing and undergarments that would last her for the amount of time they would be staying here. She didn't bother with taking any souvenirs or trinkets with her, nor did she bother with posters of any kind. Cera as a child didn't ask for much, even though her parents had said they would get her whatever she wanted on her birthday.

She usually asked for a jar of kimchi. Her parents had questioned her about it on one of her birthdays, asking why she would always want a jar of kimchi. Young Cera had only replied with, "I'm fine with just these things. Kimchi, mummy, papa, and my little sister." She had puffed her cheeks out at the end of her short explanation due to her parents covering her with hugs and kisses.

Cera was very uncomfortable with physical contact.

"So, what kind of celebration are we going to have, leader Lizard? Huh? Well?" The redhead momentarily forgot about Orel, her eyes glancing to him as she had finished stuffing her dresser with her extra clothing.

"None." Orel let out a small whine.

"But why?!" Nero pulled out his new and recently received scroll, checking the time.

"We'll have class soon." The blonde groaned before falling onto his bed.

All of them were dressed in the Academy's school uniforms, although instead of the loafers they had provided Cera decided to stick with her combat boots. She had quickly put on the brown mid-thigh socks as soon as they were given to her, not wanting to show her bare legs to the outside world, especially to her teammates.

Yukio had hauled Orel over his shoulder before they walked out of their room and began heading to their classroom. "What the?! Yukio, put me down! I can walk, you know!" Orel's loud yelling reverberated throughout the halls. A door near their room opened, the blonde and lilac-eyed man's head popping out from behind it as one of his eyebrows was raised.

"What's going on, Taiyang? Lemme see!" A feminine voice questioned, before the man himself was pushed onto the floor. The voice belonged to the girl with black and red hair, the white cloak billowing out in front of her from her recent movements. "Oh! Hi there! Team OCYN, right?"

Cera blinked as the other half of their team filed out of the room, closing the door behind them. Yukio had finally put Orel on the ground, but didn't stay put for long as he immediately bolted to the small girl, a thumb pointing at his chest.

"Yup! 'Course. Team OCYN, which is led by yours truly. What's your name, sweetheart?" Cera unsheathed her nodachi, deciding on whether to throw the sword or the sheath. Sadly, she had to use the latter or else her teammate would die from blood loss. And so she threw the sheath at the back of his head, making him fall over onto his face in front of the girl. The Faunus walked up to her, nonchalantly stepping on Orel's fallen body as he let out a muffled groan. She bent down to pick up her sheath, sliding her nodachi back into it before slinging it over her shoulder.

"Don't listen to him." She deadpanned. "Cera Vermilion, leader of Team OCYN. To my left is Yukio, to my right is Nero, and underneath me would be-" Muffled noises came out from Orel's covered face, to which Cera lightly kicked him in the head with the back of her left boot. "Underneath me would be Orel."

"Well, I'm Summer! This is Taiyang, Raven and Qrow. We're team STRQ, and I'm the leader of it! Pretty cool, right?" Cera only gave her a small, polite smile. She felt someone tapping her right shoulder, turning her head ever so slightly to come face to face with Nero. He held up his scroll, indicating that class would be starting in five minutes. Taiyang's eyes widened as he saw the time.

"Class!" He bolted down the hall before Qrow could grab the back of his collar.

"Tai! Wait!" The male let out a small sigh before turning to Cera, a smirk stretched across his lips.

"I'll see you later." With that, he dashed off, pulling his sister along as Summer had followed after giving them a quick goodbye. As soon as they had turned the corner, Cera stepped off of Orel, who was barely twitching. Yukio lifted him up over his shoulder once more before they set out to their class on the history of Grimm.

* * *

Cera blinked, paying attention to the lecture currently being given. Every now and then she would jot down notes on important things, such as why the class was important, how this kingdom and the others were a safe spot, and of course, the purpose and responsibilities of being Huntsmen. She felt Qrow nudging at her with his elbow on her left side, but decided to blatantly ignore it. Another elbow nudge, but she still continued to purposefully ignore it.

She was doing well, until she felt his finger lightly trailing down her spine through the uniform. Cera's back straightened even more than it usually did, a shiver coursing through her body at the contact. Nero glanced at her as he was sitting on her right, giving her a worried yet curious look as one of his eyebrows was slightly raised. The redhead's eyes narrowed before she looked at Qrow. Who was trying to play off what he just did by trying to balance his pencil on the tip of his nose. Sitting on the other side of him was Summer, who was idly doodling away on her paper.

"What." Cera muttered, most of her attention back to the lecture.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see your reaction. It's pretty adorable." The girl refrained from hurting him physically, the grip on her pencil tightening. "Did I also mention that you look ravishing in a skirt and socks? It's a good thing you didn't get the leggings; it's not that easy to get them off." As soon as the professor asked for a volunteer to take on a Grimm, Cera quickly stood up while pointing a gloved finger at Qrow.

"Professor Rinalle, Qrow recently told me that he would like to demonstrate to the class." Qrow's eyebrows furrowed as he also stood up, an annoyed look on his face.

"I did no such thing. If anything, I think that Cera here would like to show off how to properly slay a Grimm."

"I do **not** show off, pervert."

"Then what are you doing right now?"

"Uh, standing here, nominating you to kill a Grimm. Aw, did the little birdbrain Qrow not do anything during the initiation and is now too scared to take on a Grimm?" The insults between them went back and forth, with the students silently watching. Some had amused looks on their faces, while others just seem to find it more entertaining than the lecture currently being given.

"Enough! Mr. Branwen, Ms. Vermilion, please leave the room and stand out in the hallway for the remaining amount of time we have left in class!" With that, Professor Rinalle grabbed both of them and quite literally threw them out of the room before slamming the large oak door shut.

"Great, now look at what you've done!" Cera yelled, arms crossed underneath her breasts. Qrow had a hand on his waist as an eyebrow was raised.

"What I've done? Girlie, this is clearly your fault."

" _My_ fault? What makes you say that it was my fault?!"

"Well, if you hadn't nominated me to fight the Grimm we wouldn't be in this mess."

"As if! If anything, it's **your** fault. If you just went along with it and got rid of the stupid Grimm then we wouldn't be standing out here!"

Back in the classroom, Orel was talking to Summer since Professor Rinalle decided to have the class off with free time after one of the many students in the room had demonstrated. The rest of their teams crowded around them, clearly worried for the two members that had to be sent out.

"I haven't seen Lizard react that badly to someone. I mean, she really doesn't seem to be the type to have heated arguments." Summer quietly nodded, taking in the recent information told to her.

"Yeah. Qrow's never done this either." An idea suddenly struck Summer as a smile stretched across her lips. "What if we get them to apologize to each other? Then we can all be friends!"

Nero and Raven frowned at that, while Taiyang scratched the back of his head. "If only it were that easy, Summer. It's Cera and Qrow we're talking about here. And from what I've seen, they're stubborn." The white-haired male turned towards Raven.

"Do you have any suggestions, Ms. Branwen?" She simply shook her head. Nero's eyes glanced at Yukio, who had a hand on his chin. "Yukio?" The person in question pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyebrows furrowed.

"This would be much more easier if they were just locked in a room together for the rest of the day." Everybody went silent at that as they stared at Yukio. The male looked at all of them, noticing he had their attention. "Y-yes?" Orel suddenly hopped out of his seat, his eyes sparkling.

"That's it! That's a perfect idea, Yukio!"

"Th… Thank you?"

"Now the problem is, how are we going to get them in the room without any suspicion?" Raven questioned, a hand on her hip. Orel and Summer glanced at each other with wide grins, immediately having the same thought.

"Leave that to us!" They announced, giving each other a high five.

Everybody else except those two had a feeling they would be regretting it later on in life.

* * *

Cera and Qrow were still arguing as students filed out of their classrooms. What they didn't notice was that Summer and Orel were sneaking up behind them with bundles of rope and two… potato sacks?

"Well I don't understand why you would slick your hair back! It's disgusting, especially if someone would run a hand through your hair!"

"I don't see why you would leave your hair down! It'll clearly get in the way!"

"Oh, it'll get in the way? Then tell that to your sister! Her hair's longer than mine!"

"Don't bring Raven into this-!" Orel and Summer took that moment to cover their heads with the potato sacks while tying them up in the rope. "Wait, what the?! Summer, is this your doing?! Let go of me!" Nero and Yukio lifted the two of them over their shoulders, quickly dashing off to their dorm room. Cera flailed around as if she was a fish out of water, while Qrow struggled with the ropes.

"Scarecrow! Released me this instant and maybe I won't slice you up when I get my weapon!"

"Apologies, Ms. Cera, but no can do. We would find it very relaxing if both you and Mr. Branwen apologize to each other and become friends." She scoffed.

"Apologize? To him? Why should I?" The white-haired male didn't bother with replying as they had already reached their room. Orel quickly opened the door, bounding across their room to open the door to the small, empty closet. Nero gently set down Cera on the floor as Yukio practically threw Qrow in, removing the ropes and potato sacks before closing and locking the door. The redhead slammed her fist against the sturdy door repeatedly.

"Goldilocks, I swear on the four maidens if this was your idea-"

"Neither of you are coming out until you two kiss and make up!" Orel's muffled voice replied. "Until then, everybody else will be exploring the campus!" She heard the faint sound of a different door opening, multiple footsteps, then the door closing. Cera grumbled quietly, her arms crossed as she turned to Qrow.

"We're stuck in here until we kiss and make up." Qrow raised an eyebrow, a smirk plastered on his face.

"I'm all up for the first one." Cera simply scowled before she leaned against the wall to the left of the door. It was a good thing there was enough space to stand, as she clearly didn't want to be near the pervert whatsoever. Qrow sat down, crossing his legs as his hands rested on his knees. She looked down at him, eyebrows furrowed.

"What are you doing."

"I might as well enjoy the view. White lace doesn't look that bad on you, sweetheart. Although, I think black lace with a matching garter belt would be better." Cera's eyes narrowed before she aimed her left foot at his face. Qrow nonchalantly grabbed her ankle, tugging it. The redhead held onto the door knob, refusing to sit on the ground with him. The smirk on his face grew ever so slightly. "If you stay standing, I'll just keep staring."

Cera continued glaring at him before she let out a small sigh, pulling her foot away from his hand before sitting on her legs. She made sure that Qrow couldn't see underneath her skirt by placing her hands on her lap. They stared at each other for a while, Cera unfazed by his eyes roaming across her clothed body.

"Now what?" She questioned rudely. Qrow only chuckled at that.

"Now you apologize to me." The redhead glared at him intensely.

"What makes you think I will apologize to you?"

"Well for one, I have this with me." The black-haired male pulled out two bundles of rope from his back, to which Cera raised an eyebrow at. "And second of all, I am clearly stronger than you physically. So take your pick. Apologize, or get tied up."

"What kind of ultimatum is this?!" Qrow leaned towards her, slamming a hand against the wall that was behind her back. He slowly leaned in until there was only a small crack of space between them.

"The kind where it's a win-win situation for me." Cera scowled. Never in a million years would she be apologizing to him, nor would she want to be tied up for him to do whatever he pleased. So of course, she had no choice but to apologize.

"As long as you also apologize."

"'Course."

"...Sorry." Her apology was barely audible, even in the small space they were confined in. Nonetheless, Qrow took it as one. She glanced up at him, her eyes narrowing. "Now where's mine?" It was then that Qrow did something that Cera would have never expected.

Her eyes widened just a bit as she felt his lips peck against her right cheek. He leaned in towards her ear, chuckling softly while twirling a strand of her hair.

"Sorry." He mumbled, amusement lacing his voice. "Couldn't help it." Cera blatantly ignored it as she glanced at the locked door from the corner of her eye.

"It's been a while. Where are they…?" Qrow merely shrugged before he climbed off, sitting back down across from her. The Faunus glanced at the human. "Do you have your scroll on you?" The man shook his head.

"Was kidnapped from me. I'm guessing yours was, too." She slowly nodded, confirming it as yawns escaped from their mouths. "Come here. We'll take a quick nap and hope that they open the door." Cera's eyes narrowed, questioning his friendliness.

"I'm fine on my own side of the closet, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself." With that, he leaned against the wall behind him, propping an arm up with a bent leg as his eyes closed. Cera scuttled into the corner, resting her head against the wall as she pulled her knees up. She closed her eyes, slowly succumbing to sleep with the hope that at least one of her teammates would open the door.

Qrow's eyes opened as he watched Cera breathing peacefully, indicating she had fallen asleep. He quietly stood up, an arm stretching above him as he felt around for a spare pillow and blanket. The academy provided extra pillows and blankets, and they were usually stuffed in the closets on the shelf above him. He grabbed onto what felt like a pillow, pulling it down towards him before moving his hand back up to retrieve a blanket.

After having both of them in his hands, he sat down next to Cera's sleeping body. Qrow placed the pillow behind his head, gently moving Cera so that she leaned onto his chest. The redhead unconsciously nuzzled into him, her horns lightly scraping him. It didn't bother him that much, to say the least. Unfolding the blanket, he draped it over their bodies before letting out a content sigh. It was then that he closed his eyes, falling into the same sleep that Cera was currently in.

* * *

"Guys, aren't we forgetting something?" Raven asked as they walked back to their dorms. Throughout the rest of the day they had walked around campus, enjoying the many sights and meeting plenty of students. Needless to say, most of the females they had passed by or talked to had gushed over Nero, Orel and Yukio since the trio had just discovered that Taiyang was dating Raven.

"Doesn't seem like it." Orel replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "Maybe we'll figure it out if we sleep and wake up the next morning." Summer quickly nodded in agreement. The two of them had thought alike, it was blatantly obvious.

The six of them had reached their designated rooms, waving goodbye to each other as it was most likely very late into the night. The amber-eyed male hopped into his bed without a care in the world, not minding if his uniform got wrinkly. The academy had given them extras to wear, anyways.

"Going to stay up tonight, Yukio?" Nero questioned as he slipped out of his uniform and into a black long-sleeved shirt with loose plaid pajamas. The male in question simply shook his head, too tired to even keep his eyes open. Yukio clambered into his own bed after changing into a plain white t-shirt and some comfy gray pajamas, sleep immediately overtaking his consciousness.

The white-haired male quietly walked over to the closet, unlocking it as he peeked inside.

Qrow was propped up against the wall with a pillow behind his head, with Cera curled up on his chest. One of her hands gripped onto his shirt, while the other was gripping onto the maroon blanket that was draped over them. Underneath the blanket, Nero can make out that Qrow's arm was wrapped around her waist, as to make sure that she didn't squirm or slip away. They looked peaceful in their sleep.

Nero had closed the door without a sound before he made himself comfortable in his bed. He closed his eyes, trying to forget what he saw in the closet.

If he kept the image, his heart would only ache more than it should.

* * *

 **Typical trivia :**

 **\- Cera's name refers to "Sera", meaning "burning one" or "serpent". Her last name, Vermilion, is a shade of red.**

 **\- Nero's name is Roman for "black". Nightingale refers to the bird, which is known for having a remarkably strong and beautiful song.**

 **\- Yukio's full name is Yukio Arashi, which is Japanese for "snow storm".**

 **\- Orel's name is a Swiss form of Roman Latin, meaning "golden". His last name, Glorea, is a variation of "Gloria", which is "string" in Latin.**


	4. Vermilions, Schnees, and a Fault

**[A/N : This chapter is shorter than the previous ones, as it's only in the 2k words area rather than 3k like the last chapter or 4k like the first two. It's a nice break for your eyes, isn't it?**

 **Other than that, thank you for the review, jtrek.013! I'll try to add in bits of fluff here and there, but it's mostly... Well, you'll see what I mean in future chapters. And yes, there needs to be more Qrow fics.]**

 **Chapter 4 : Vermilions, Schnees, and a Fault.**

* * *

 _"_ _Cera." The girl turned towards_ _Aoi_ _, moving her attention away from her baby sister._ _Blake was quietly scribbling in a coloring book, her cat ears twitching every now and then. "I've taught you all that I can, baby girl. I think you're ready." Her eyes narrowed slightly._

 _"For what…?" She questioned. It didn't matter if she asked or not, she already knew the answer._

 _Aoi and Grace wanted the best for her, for Cera to be able to live out in the world and be in society almost like a normal person. Almost. They knew that she was uncomfortable around others in the village due to not having any cat ears or tails, as she had her maroon horns that were still growing._

 _"_ _Have you ever heard of Huntsmen?" The redhead slowly shook her head, her interest piqued. "Huntsmen are warriors, dedicated to slaying Grimm and to uphold the peace in the world. The Huntsman academy for this kingdom is Beacon Academy._ _If you want to become on, you would need to attend this academy. Do you understand?" Cera slowly nodded, clearly understanding what they want to do._

 _Send her to Beacon Academy._

 _"Good. You'll begin packing up tonight. Tomorrow morning, you'll be getting on the airship arriving nearby. We've already sent in the paperwork." Aoi quietly left the living room, leaving Blake and Cera to themselves with the crayons and coloring book. Blake looked up at Cera, her eyes wide with curiosity._

 _"Cewa? Are you going away?" Cera gave her a small smile, ruffling her hair._

 _"Yeah. I'll be gone for a while, Blake."_

 _"But where?" She slowly got up, going over to the bookshelf to grab a book to read to Blake._

 _"_ _Not anywhere too far. Maybe when you get older you'll go to the same place that I'm going to." A smile stretched across her face as she bound up to her._

 _"Really?" Cera nodded._

 _"Your big sister's going to be stronger when she comes back. So until then, wait for me. Come on, let's get you to bed. It's late."_

* * *

It had been a couple of weeks after the closet incident, which Orel kept apologizing for repeatedly. But with each apology came the question that Cera would avoid each time it was asked.

"Did nothing really happen between you two?" Until now.

"Yes, nothing happened between us." All of them were currently in the cafeteria, sharing a table with Team STRQ. Nero frowned as Orel continued asking questions.

"But he got out of the closet with a really red hand mark on his cheek!" Of course over the two weeks the mark had faded, but apparently the memory of it won't ever be forgotten. The redhead ignored Orel, instead focusing on eating the rest of her deviled eggs. The blonde left her alone at that. If only Summer told her about Qrow having a flirty personality in the first place.

Yukio placed a hand on her shoulder, a grin on his face. "We have the rest of the day off and tomorrow to help with the Vytal Festival. Feel like walking around with me?" Cera glanced over at the others; Orel was occupied with a food eating contest between him and Taiyang. Summer was on the sideline cheering for Taiyang while Nero, Raven and Qrow were trying not to lose their appetite to how much food the two of them could eat in one sitting.

Cera quietly got up before following Yukio out through the double doors that lead outside.

There were multiple people walking and talking about, with some of them carrying neatly cut wood over their shoulders. A few others had brushes and buckets of paint, a few streamers here and there, and of course, multicolored balloons.

The two of them walked forward, the redhead's eyes glancing at things left and right. She had never seen this many people working out in the day. Before she left for Beacon Academy, there wasn't much done at her hometown in terms of construction. It was mostly just kids playing with parents watching them from afar as they made small conversation.

Her gaze landed on Yukio who was walking on her left, a questioning look on her facial features.

"What's the Vytal Festival, anyways?" Yukio gave her a smile as they walked into town.

"Well, it's something that's held every two years that everybody goes to. The kingdoms rotate on who gets to host it, and I guess Vale's hosting it this time. It's to celebrate the diversity of cultures in Remnant. There's dances, parades, and last but not least, a combat tournament." A corner of Cera's mouth slightly turned upwards.

"Sounds like something Orel would enjoy." The male let out a small laugh as they passed by a bakery full of sweets and desserts. The smell of freshly baked goods filled the air, Cera scrunching her nose slightly in response. She'll never enjoy sweets in her lifetime.

"So Cera, is there anything else to your weapon other than being a sword?" Her mouth formed into a small 'o' as she had just realized she had never shown them about her weapon's other form. "Unless you want to keep it a secret until the combat tournament?" Cera's mouth closed at that. She could wait until the combat tournament.

Besides, according to some birdbrain she's a show off. A small nod of her head confirmed Yukio's assumption, to which his eyes lit up.

"It makes me curious on what it could be. There's an endless sea of opportunities!" She only shrugged in reply. Cera glanced at the pier, the breeze from the ocean forcing her to adjust her hair. There were multiple ships docked with plenty of people getting off of them, although a girl stood out from the rest.

The girl looked to be slightly taller than Cera, with pale skin, white hair and medium-light blue eyes. Her hair was in a bob cut, with her bangs swept to the right side of her face. The uniform she had on was mostly gray-scaled, which told the Faunus that she was from Atlas Academy. Attached to her left side was a silver upper-class dueling saber. Her arms were held behind her back as she began walking towards the two of them.

"Judging by your… Intricate uniforms, I would be correct to assume that you two are from Beacon Academy?" Yukio held out his hand, a kind and polite smile on his face.

"We are. I'm Yukio Arashi, and this is Cera Vermilion. You would be…?" The girl glanced down at his outstretched hand before looking back up at him, her eyes cold and sharp.

"I see no reason to shake your hand, nor to introduce myself. But nonetheless, I suppose I will since we may be fighting each other in the combat tournament. Winter Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Yukio withdrew his hand back to his side, clearly unfazed by the ignored handshake. Cera only gave her a small glare at the thought of having to deal with her.

"Oh! You're a Schnee? Does this mean you also have the same semblance as your family?"

"You would be correct. No other person would be able to summon creatures to assist them in combat other than the Schnee family." Winter replied, albeit in a slight monotone.

"I don't like you." Cera concluded. The white-haired girl only narrowed her eyes at this, a hand on her weapon.

"It wouldn't matter either way, Vermilion. It would be best to forfeit already if you were thinking of challenging me." Winter walked past them as Cera continued glaring at where she once stood.

The sound of metal slicing through the air caught Yukio's attention, and just when he was about to warn Cera about the saber she had already blocked it with her nodachi. His eyes widened at how fast his team leader's reflex was. He didn't even have enough time to open his mouth!

Winter withdrew her dueling saber, letting it rest back on her left hip. "Your reaction time is rather mediocre. I expected more out of a Vermilion." The redhead's glare only deepened as she pointed her sword at Winter.

"What do you know about my parents, Schnee?"

"It's not what I know of, it's of what father knows. Quite frankly, according to my father, Vermilions make very good foot stools, do they not?" She resumed walking away, her arms behind her back once more as she was swallowed by the crowd of people in town. Cera clicked her tongue as she sheathed her sword, slightly annoyed by what had just transpired.

"Are you alright, Cera?" Her pupils turned into slits as the palms of her gloves glowed a faint red, the corners of her mouth straight. Yukio, of course, had noticed this, but decided not to say anything about it as it seemed she was unconsciously tapping into her semblance.

Nero had already told him about how she didn't know what a semblance was, or how to find hers. From Cera's reaction to Winter, Yukio would hypothesize that her semblance activates based on strong emotions, or if it activates after seeing a worthy opponent.

He wouldn't be surprised if it was a mix of both.

"Never better, Yukio. Never better."

* * *

The two of them had arrived back at their assigned dorm room late in the afternoon, walking into a rather rambunctious game of… Go Fish? Orel, Summer and Taiyang were clearly enthusiastic about it, although Raven and Qrow were more off to the side, most likely avoiding the cards flying around. Over the loud yelling, Orel had noticed that the two of them had returned.

"Yuu! Lizard! Want to join?" Cera pursed her lips before shaking her head, deciding that she would need some alone time to think about her newly made rival. Orel shrugged as she walked by to go outside onto the balcony, Yukio deciding to join their card game. The curtains were covering the glass panels, but she opened the door nonetheless. "Your loss, Lizard!"

The Faunus was about to close the door behind her until she noticed Nero staring at the sunset. He turned around, blinking.

"Oh! How was it walking around with Yukio, Miss Cera?" She glanced away.

"If you're busy, I'll just…" He quickly shook his head, patting the spot to his right on the stone railing.

"Not at all. You may join me if you wish." Cera was hesitant at first, but ultimately decided on closing the door behind her before standing next to him. "Would you like to tell me what happened, Miss Cera? You seem to be frustrated." She stared at the sunset silently, leaning against the railing as the soft breeze swept her hair across her features.

"…It was nothing to me at first, but whenever I think about it… I just feel like I'll never get one." Her father had told her about the Schnee Dust Company and how they practically influenced what seems to be the whole world of Remnant. Of course, he had mentioned a few things, such as them being able to summon companions to fight by their side, but Cera had never thought of it being their semblance.

"A semblance?" She gave him a short hum in reply. "It will come to you in time, Miss Cera. There have been cases of people finding their semblance through certain situations. Maybe you'll find out what yours is throughout the festivities."

"But…"

"Yes?"

"…What if it changes who I am? What then?" Nero turned to her, his eyes widening a fraction in realization.

Cera was scared of changing.

"What if I… What if I change into _something_ or _somebody else_ that would be considered…" The Faunus trailed off, her gloved hands forming into fists as the last bits of the sunset disappeared from their view.

"Miss Cera, look at me." She let out a shaky breath before looking up at him. Nero brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, a warm smile on his lips. His hand lingered for a moment before resting lightly on her cheek. "No matter what happens to you, you'll still be our team leader. You'll still be Miss Cera to me, and to the others. Change happens to everybody, but it's never scary."

Cera looked off to the side, her hand slowly coming up to rest on top of his that was still on her cheek. Her mouth opened as she spoke softly, the scared look in her eyes replaced with that of a calm one. "I can… I can hold your hand when that happens, right?" The white-haired male let out a short chuckle.

"If that is what you wish for, Miss Cera." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she crossed her arms under her breasts.

"And no telling anybody what just happened. I'm the team leader, I'm not supposed to be scared of something so little." Nero walked to the door, opening it before he stood to the side of it, waiting.

"Of course, Miss Cera. Now, it'll be best for us to come back inside. It's almost past curfew."

"…Right." Cera walked back inside, pausing mid-step. "Scarecrow?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

* * *

 **Trivia~ :**

 **As last chapter had an explanation of what their names meant, this one is for their weapons.**

 **\- Cera's weapon is the name of the story, "Drakon Rev", which is [if you've been reading the trivia at the end of the chapters] "Dragon's Roar" in English. It's classified as a QLRB, which you will find out what it means in future chapters.**

 **\- Orel's weapon is a Stringed Crescent Moon; SCM. The name of it is "Discrimen", meaning "Dividing Line" in Latin.**

 **\- Nero's is Dual Interchangeable Bladed Pistols, or DIBP. Its name is "Flying Bullets" in Chinese; Zidan Fei.**

 **\- Lastly, Yukio's weapon is Kotei no Hanketsu. Japanese for "Emperor's Ruling", it's classified as a DBHW; Double Bladed Heavy Whip.**


	5. Plan DUCK

**[And to think that this one almost broke the 4k words mark.]**

 **Chapter 5 : Plan DUCK  
**

* * *

 _Young Cera was sitting in her father's lap,_ _humming an unknown tune as her father sipped his earl gray tea. The teacup clinked against the plate as he had finished, placing it on his large mahogany desk. Cera enjoyed sitting on her father's lap whenever he sat in his black office chair. It spun around, too! Except she tries to spin in it whenever her father is gone doing business with the Schnee Dust Company._

 _The girl stopped humming, tilting her head upwards to see her father's angled face looming down on her. His eyes were a dark maroon, warm and full of love. All just for little Cera and her mother. Her father's hair was black with a few red streaks here and there, the black and red ombre horns on his head jutting out. The horns were a part of her father that she loved, as it made him seem big and tough._

 _Nothing would ever get in his way, of course!_

 _"Papa?"_

 _"Yes, darling?" One of her cheeks puffed up, to which her father lightly poked it back in. As a result, her other cheek had popped up. It went back and forth between them like that; one cheek puffed, a finger poking it back in, the other puffing up afterward. Cera's smile turned into a large grin._

 _If she puffed both of her cheeks, he wouldn't be able to know what to do! And so she did. Her father had let out another deep chuckle before he took both of his pointer fingers and pushed them against her cheeks. The air escaped through her mouth, which left her in a giggling heap._

 _"What do you need?" Her giggles died off as her frilly pink dress ruffled against her father's black business suit._

 _"_ _You'll be here for my tenth birthday, right?" A corner of her father's mouth turned upwards._

 _"Of course."_

 _"And mummy?"_

 _"She'll be here too. We'll all be here for you, little Cera."_ _The small girl held out a pinky._

 _"Promise?" Her father hooked his large pinky around hers, the smile growing ever so slightly._

 _"Promise. Now, isn't it time for your dance lessons?" Cera's large eyes widened at that._

 _"Ballroom dancing!"_

 _"And waltzing, too. Don't forget that."_

* * *

Cera sliced her nodachi at Raven, who deflected it with her own sword. They were in a staged match at the assembly area, with other students of the academy watching them. The two females continued their back-and-forth match, only to have it stop as the brunette instructor raised an arm.

"That's enough, you two. Both of you have been fighting nonstop for a while, and it's almost the end of class." The redhead frowned slightly, sliding her weapon back into its sheath. Orel hopped off of his seat and over the safety wall, wrapping an arm around Cera's neck.

"You did great, Lizard! I didn't even know you could swing your sword that fast!" She only shrugged slightly. Lately Cera has gotten used to Orel's antics, although every now and then she was too tired to actually give him a verbal response. "I think that if you worked on increasing your speed, you'll be able to beat her!" Cera only shook her head at that after Orel had moved his arm back to his side.

"I'm not as speedy as Scarecrow." An eyebrow was raised at that.

"Would that mean you're a semi-tank like me?" A large grin stretched across the blonde's face at the thought of it. The girl shook her head yet again, which made Orel's grin drop immediately. "Then… Then what kind of fighter are you?!" Yukio and Nero had joined the two of them after the small outburst. Cera narrowed her eyes at Orel.

"That's all I am, Goldilocks. A fighter." The short and simple answer clearly didn't sate his curiosity, as his eyes narrowed in the same manner. Nero had noticed this as he was about to place a hand on Orel's shoulder, but was too late as he already replied.

"Lizard, I don't know why you keep avoiding almost every question that I ask you, especially when it's questions about yourself."

"I'm not avoiding them."

"You are, and you know it. Lizard, just the other day I asked if you wanted some sweets and you just gave me the cold shoulder." She turned her head away from him, focusing on a random spot on the ground.

"Because I don't like sweets." The look Orel had on his face was clearly full of exasperation.

"Then you could have told me you didn't like sweets! I would've grabbed something else for you!"

"But you didn't, now did you." Orel had his arms crossed over his chest, an intense glare replacing his exasperation.

"If you had told me in the first place, Lizard! We've been a team for almost a month now, and you don't even bother with telling us a single thing about you!" It was then that Cera had snapped for the second time in a month.

"Look, Goldilocks! If I wanted to tell you, then I would tell you! And clearly, I don't want to! Sorry that I can't always come to your beck and call like some little servant!" The three of them had visibly froze at that. A bell had rung off, signaling students to move onto their next class. Cera quickly left the room, the sullen looks of her teammates still fresh in her mind.

It didn't matter to Cera anyways.

The truth hurts.

* * *

Over the next few days, the Faunus had avoided her team like the plague. Whenever they ate in the cafeteria, she would be on the other side of the large room. When they had passed each other in the hall she wouldn't even bat an eye towards them. She would even stay outside on the balcony for hours on end until each and every one of them went to sleep. Of course, Team STRQ was also noticing these things, and so had asked the rest of Team OCYN about it after the last class of the day.

"Yukio, is everything alright with Cera?" Summer questioned, worry evident in her eyes. The man in question awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, his usual smiling face now sporting a small frown.

"Some time ago Orel and Cera got into an argument, and she's hit some pretty hard notes on our pasts… We've all tried talking to her but she's ignored us every time." Summer placed a hand under her chin, as if in deep thought. Qrow shrugged lightly, a grin on his face.

"What if I try talking to her? We got along pretty well the last time you two left us." Nero quietly clenched his fist, his face stoic as he glanced away from Qrow. Everybody else stared at Qrow with a blank look on their face, the same exact thought they all had erupting from their mouths.

"No." Qrow slicked his hair back with a hand, clearly annoyed.

"Well it's not like she has any other things going for her. The dance is coming up in two days, you know, and I doubt she has someone to go with." The red-eyed male glanced at all of them. "You guys are going with someone, right?" Orel shook his head.

"We'll probably just stick together. Nobody really catches our eyes." Qrow raised his eyebrows, amused.

"Not even Ice Queen?" The blonde tilted his head.

"Ice Queen? I thought Yuu was a guy. I mean, he has long hair, but…" Taiyang chuckled into his free hand, his other hand occupied with holding onto Raven's.

"Not Yukio. Winter Schnee. White hair, blue eyes, robotic personality?" A light bulb lit up over Orel's head as it finally registered to him what Taiyang was talking about.

"Oh! Yukio and Cera met her while they were walking around town." Summer suddenly jumped out of her seat, her eyes sparkling.

" **That's it**! We can take her shopping with us!"

"Ice Queen?" The caped girl clapped her hands together.

"We can take her too! But more importantly, Raven and I can take Cera with us for dress shopping in town! While we're doing that, you guys can spy on us so you can have an idea of what to talk to her about when she comes back to the dorms!" Nero frowned slightly.

"The dress shopping part I don't mind, Miss Rose. But all of us spying on you three?" Summer only puffed up her cheeks.

"Taiyang isn't going since Raven doesn't want him to see the dress she picks!" Raven's cheeks took on a tint of pink.

"S-Summer!" The girl only deflated her cheeks, a large smile present.

"Then it's settled! We'll take Cera shopping with us to have some girl time, while you guys minus Taiyang spy on us! This will be so perfect!" Yukio had a small smile on his face. Maybe being with other girls will help coax Cera out of her shell.

"When will we execute the plan?"

"Tomorrow! Plan DUCK will commence!" Orel raised an eyebrow.

"Plan DUCK?" Summer only nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Plan Dress Up Cera Kutely!"

Everybody except for Summer winced slightly.

* * *

The next day, Cera Vermilion didn't know what to think of Summer. The first thing that happened after she hopped out of the steaming hot shower was Summer knocking on the door. Of course, she had opened it for her but didn't expect the girl to drag her out by force with Raven.

"Summer, may I ask what you're doing?" Summer continued dragging her, a large grin on her face. Cera was eerily reminded of Orel.

"We're going to go dress shopping! Raven and I thought that you needed some more girl time, and what better way than to go shopping for the dance tomorrow!" The redhead only frowned in response. Raven noticed, and had given her a gentle smile as they reached the town.

"It'll be fun. Don't worry." Cera only grumbled quietly. She didn't like shopping that much, as her mother made her clothes for her. As for shoes, she's fine with anything that will protect her feet.

Summer let out a small gasp of excitement as they entered a rather large store. Dresses lined the walls, while plenty of accessories and shoes mostly displayed in the middle. Her eyes sparkled, immediately letting go of Cera and rushing off into the depths of the unknown. Raven slowly followed after her, trying to find out where she disappeared to.

"Summer? Summer!"

"Come on, Cera! We need to find you the perfect dress!"

Outside of the store were Orel, Nero, Yukio, and Qrow. The blonde had a pair of binoculars that he was currently looking through while nonchalantly eating a large baked cinnamon sugar covered pretzel. They were all hiding in bushes, as if leaving or even moving would blow their cover.

Before Summer and Raven left to grab Cera, they all met up so Orel could give the two girls small, wireless microphones and ear buds. They were hard to spot on them, especially with their clothing and they took it as a blessing. Nero was currently holding onto the walkie-talkie, their only way of listening to the girl's conversations.

"They handed her a dress to try on!" Orel exclaimed, his pretzel already long gone. A faint buzzing was heard from the walkie-talkie before Summer's voice was heard.

"So Cera, does it fit? We kind of need to figure out your size before we can actually start looking." Some faint grunting was heard, which they had assumed was Cera.

"…It feels tight around the chest area. Constricting, almost."

Oh. The guys had plenty of different reactions; Orel's face was beet red, Qrow's had a certain perverted grin on it, Yukio's cheeks took on a tint of pink although he had a tiny, shy smile, and Nero just coughed into his gloved hand with a moderate-sized blush.

"Got it! Raven, try to find a size a bit bigger than you since the dress we gave her was your size." Summer's voice dropped to a whisper as soon as Raven went back to looking around. "Okay guys, what should I ask her?" Orel dropped the binoculars, immediately springing to the walkie-talkie to press the push-to-talk button.

"Does she like any certain type of food?!" Qrow and Nero each raised an eyebrow.

"So, Cera! While we're waiting for Raven, what kind of foods do you like?" Cera's movements in the stall sounded a bit more clear. Summer must have moved a bit closer to the stall just in case her voice was too muffled or too quiet.

"Spicy or savory. I'm fine with either of them. Is there a reason for you to ask, Summer?"

"O-oh! Well, I'm only asking since I want to get to know you better! Besides, we're friends, aren't we?" There was a pregnant pause, even Cera's shuffling had stopped.

"…Yes, I suppose so."

"Raven! Did you find some more dresses for Cera to try on?"

"I think. Just throw the ones you don't like over the stall, Cera." A small hum was heard, then the sound of hangers clinking against each other.

"Come on, Cera! Show us the first dress on the pile!" Orel picked up his binoculars, looking through them to see Cera walk out of the changing stall.

The dress was white, although it blended into a soft pink at the ends. There weren't any straps on it, and it flared just below her mid-thigh. There was a thin ribbon loosely wrapped around her waist that was tied into a medium-sized bow.

Orel had steam coming off of him, to which Yukio placed a hand on his shoulder in concern.

"Orel, you alright there?" The blonde fell back, his face even redder than before as his eyes were swirls.

"C-cute! Too cute…" The rest of the boys took out their own binoculars, peering through them at the dress that Cera was wearing. It didn't look bad on her, they concluded. Although it wasn't really their taste. The walkie-talkie came to life again with Cera's grumbling.

"I don't really like short dresses, Raven." Raven's distinct laugh could be heard.

"Understandable. You can put on a different dress, Cera." Through the binoculars, Cera had quickly walked back into the changing room, looking visibly relieved. Yukio pressed the push-to-talk button on the walkie-talkie.

"Summer, can you ask her what her parents are like?"

"Of course!"

"Did you say something, Summer?" Cera's voice was muffled, as she was most likely in the middle of putting on the next dress.

"Nothing, nothing! I was just… Uh…"

"She wanted to know what your parents are like, since both of ours cared a lot for us." Raven piqued, smoothly covering for her teammate.

"…My father, Aoi Belladonna, was someone who made weapons and helped around the town with construction. He really enjoyed reading through the large collections of books we had at home in our own library, while my mother, Grace Belladonna, enjoyed reading the romance ones. Mother was a kind individual, who enjoyed staying at home and making food. She's currently pregnant right now, and is due for the baby soon." Summer let out a small gasp of delight.

"You're going to be a big sister?!"

"They've already named her Blake." Raven's eyebrows furrowed.

"Cera, isn't your last name Vermilion? Why are your parent's last names Belladonna, then?" Another moment of silence ensued. They heard Cera's small sigh before she spoke.

"Adopted. I don't remember my birth parents." The redhead walked out of the changing stall, the second dress drastically different from the first.

The dress overall was beautiful in design and color. It was another strapless dress, although instead of being a short flare dress, it was a black maxi dress covered in lace. Towards the bottom past mid-thigh it was see-through, but Cera didn't mind it. As long as it wasn't the short dress she was fine with it. The lace was designed to resemble vines, and every now and then there would be a small shimmer of gold when Cera placed the lighting on it differently.

Nero's heart skipped a beat right when he saw Cera in the dress. It made her seem more elegant than usual, and by the looks of the girl's faces they were also mesmerized. The sight of Cera in the dress just made them forget about the fact that her mother and father weren't her biological parents.

"It's perfect, Cera! You should buy it!" Summer exclaimed. The Faunus took a glance at the price tag in her hand before clicking her tongue.

"Too much." Summer took a peek at the tag, her eyes widening.

" **Too much**?! Cera, that's fifty five Lien! How much money do you have on you right now, anyway?!" The girl in question went back to her changing room, coming back out with her wallet. Summer's eyes widened even more. " **Cera**! You can barely close your wallet! How is this too much?"

"I'm used to my mother making my clothes for me." Raven slowly nodded in understanding.

"Trust me, Cera! Buy it!" Her lips pursed as she contemplated. Cera sighed lightly, a small smile on her face.

"Alright." As Summer cheered happily, Cera quickly changed out of it and into her own clothes. The dress was folded in half before being draped over her arm, as she didn't want it to already get dirty. Summer grabbed her hand, dragging her over to the shoes and jewelry with Raven laughing lightly at her energetic teammate.

As for the guys, they were busy munching on some food, already exhausted from waiting for the girls to finish. Why did they even bother to come here again? Oh, right.

So they can mend their relationship with their team leader.

Of course they're all up for it, but shopping?

They'll let the girls go on their own without spying on them next time.

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon when the trio finally left the shop, their hands full of bags. While Cera was finding a pair of shoes to go with the dress, Summer and Raven went to find their own dresses. Summer went with a simple black and red dress that ended at her knees, a pair of black flats with a bow on them, and a black choker. Raven, on the other hand, went for a gold halter dress with a slit on the right side and matching gold heels.

Cera just went with a pair of black suede stilettos with round toes, and as for jewelry she bought an alloy wing ear cuff for her left ear and a matching anklet for her right ankle. She had also gotten black stockings, just in case.

They were in the middle of walking to their dorm rooms, when Summer looked up at Cera.

"Hey, Cera?" The girl in question hummed, letting Summer know that she was listening.

"Have… Have you been talking to your team lately?" Cera stopped walking at that, the light in her eyes dimming a bit as Raven's face was full of worry. "Cera, we know what's been going on with you and your teammates. They talked to us about it and they don't know what to do…"

The redhead started to briskly walk forward. "Cera! Please! Just talk to them like how you talked to us! They're the only teammates you have!" She opened the door to her dorm room, looking over at Summer and Raven. She hesitated a bit before nodding her head slightly, which brought a smile to their faces.

Cera closed the door behind her, placing her bags next to her bed as she looked at the table in the middle of the room. Orel and Yukio were in the middle of playing a rather… Interesting card game, with Nero watching them. She eyed them for a moment before heading out to the balcony.

The balcony gave the team a perfect view of the sun setting over the horizon, especially when it always sets behind the town. The trees around them weren't too tall, so they never didn't get in the way.

She heard the door opening and closing, her head turning to see that it was Orel. He had a small grin on his face.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go for it." Before Cera could think, her answer jumbled out of her mouth.

The two of them stared at the slowly setting sun for a while, until Orel spoke.

"I'm sorry, Cera." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, which told him to continue. "I mean… I know that I do some stupid stuff and I talk a lot, but it's just to get to know my team better, you know? So I can tell when my team leader needs some saving from some big bad Grimm."

A chuckle escaped her lips at the thought of that. But she knew it was Orel saying he'll be there for her, nonetheless.

The blonde waited for a while, waiting for Cera to apologize. When he noticed that she wasn't going to, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, your turn to make some awkward apology." She raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm not good with apologies."

"That's fine with me. Doesn't have to be special. Just a small one will do." The corners of her mouth lifted up slightly, her eyes half-lidded as she gazed at the stars peeking out from the clouds above them.

"Sorry." He turned to her, holding out a hand.

"Friends?" The small smile grew just a bit on her face. She had a feeling that Orel didn't like handshakes. Instead of giving him one she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a light hug. Cera pulled away, her arms back at her sides.

"Friends." They stared at each other for a while, until Orel spoke up.

"Come on, let's go play some Slapjack!" Orel grabbed her hand, gently pulling her along. She had a confused look on her face.

"But, I don't know how to play." A large grin stretched across his face, his cheeks dusted with pink.

"I'll just teach you!"

* * *

 **Trivia~ :**

 **Actually, I'm not really sure what to put down for this trivia. A few likes and dislikes, I guess? Of course, there will be more added as the story progresses.**

 **\- Cera likes spicy and savory food, along with fighting Grimm. She doesn't like sweets.**

 **\- Yukio enjoys helping his grandmother and tea. He dislikes arguing, slimy food and raw meat.**

 **\- Orel likes sweet snacks, or sweets in general and being with his teammates. He doesn't like salty food and he also dislikes feeling useless.**

 **\- Lastly, Nero likes tea and mixing dust together to see the results. He dislikes people crowding around him and fish.**


	6. Dances to Remember

**[A/N : Thank you for the review, EternalNight88~ I'm hoping that Team OCYN and Team STRQ interact more in the future before, you know, shit goes down.]**

 **Chapter 6 : Dances to Remember**

* * *

 _Young Cera's mother was_ _truly_ _a sight to take in._ _Her_ _soft pink eyes were always full of life,_ _while her very long almost-white pink hair was layered in a way to resemble feathers_ _as it cascaded down her back. She had always worn a plain white dress that never seemed to get dirty._

 _The neighbors would always compliment on her being the perfect housewife. She had knowledge of sewing, cleaning, cooking, and plenty of other things that made Cera look up to her. Every now and then little Cera would help her mother, and it truly was an endearing sight to see._

 _"Mama?"_ _Cera's mother looked down at her child, continuing to stir the soup she was currently cooking._

 _"Hm?" She let out a small hum, waiting for Cera to continue._

 _"_ _How did you and papa meet?" Her mother let out a light laugh._

 _"Well, aren't you curious! And just the other day you asked your father to take you to his work because you wanted to ask more questions." Cera only puffed her cheeks at that._

 _"'Cause I want to know more things, mama!" The older woman only placed a hand on her cheek, a smile on her face as she turned off the heat for the soup._

 _"Your_ _father_ _and I met when we were_ _both in school." Cera's eyes widened in wonder. "Of course, as fate would have it, we were both in the same team! Team ELTC, if I remember correctly. It's been so long since then, I wonder how everybody's doing…"_

 _"Who was in your team, mama?" Cera's mother scooped her up in her arms, carrying her towards the living room._

 _"Well, the_ _re was your father as the leader, Eon Vermilion. Then it was your mama, Lumina Huong. And last but not least, Tera Rhydderch and Chris_ _Albus." Cera clung onto her mother's dress as she sat down on the couch._

 _"Mama? Where did Tera and Chris go?" Her mother gave her a sad smile._

 _"Tera went traveling after we all graduated. She used to write to us but the last time she sent us something was more than five years ago. As for Chris, he…" Her mother pursed her lips before continuing. "He disappeared during a blizzard, and his body was found with a large bite mark in his neck…"_

 _"I really want to meet them, mama…"_

 _"One day, Cera. But remember this as you're growing up; no matter what happens between you and your friends, don't leave them, okay?" A large smile grew on the small girl's face._

 _"Okay!"_

* * *

"Cera! You need to keep your eyes closed so I can put this on you properly!" It was the day after the shopping adventure, along with being the day of the dance. Of course, Cera wasn't excited about it, but it was clear to see that Summer was.

Although if the redhead squinted her eyes and tilted her head, she could _slightly_ see a bit of pep in Raven's steps.

"Raven, I don't care much about makeup."

"But we care about your appearance!" Currently they were all getting ready for the dance. The girls were situated in Team STRQ's dorm room, while the males were in Team OCYN's. It was very interesting to Cera when she had walked into the dorm room.

There was a bookshelf off to the side filled to the brim with books of all genres, and there was also a few cards laying about. The most interesting thing about the room's setup though, was that the beds were made to be bunk beds.

Her brain had stopped all functions.

Why couldn't she have thought of bunk beds?

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." The Faunus did as she was told, only to end up staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Cera didn't want to admit it, but Raven's skills in the art of applying makeup made her want to learn how to do it herself. The black eyeliner paired with the smoky black eyeshadow made her as feminine as she could possibly get. The redhead noticed a bit of gold shimmering at the outer corners of her eyes, which assisted with making her eyes pop as much as possible. Lip gloss was lightly dabbed onto her lips while her lashes were curled to what seemed to be perfection.

"Cera, I'm going to put your hair in a high ponytail." She only shrugged in reply. If that's what Raven feels like doing. "So, what do you think about your teammates, Cera?" Raven questioned as she was in the middle of pulling her hair up.

"They're not bad." A small smile appeared on her face, to which Raven chuckled.

"That's good. Have you figured out who you're going to be dancing with?" Cera pursed her lips at that. She didn't want to dance with anybody at all whatsoever, and so she voiced her thought to the black-haired girl. Raven frowned in response.

"But Cera! You have to dance with someone! That's the whole point of a dance!" Summer shouted to her from across the room. The girl was currently trying to put on her shoes. Cera grumbled lightly at that.

"One dance."

"Four." Raven countered. The redhead's eyes widened slightly.

"F-four?!"

"One for each of your teammates, and the last one can go to whoever asks you that isn't in your team." Cera was tempted to scratch her cheek with one finger, but thankfully she didn't.

"Better not be your brother, then…" An eyebrow shot up.

"I understand you don't like my brother, Cera, but could you _at least_ give him a chance?" A clicked tongue was Raven's only response, so she didn't bother with trying to continue the conversation.

A few minutes went by, Cera's hair now in a high ponytail with a bit of her hair wrapped around the base of it to hide the black hair tie. It was pinned down by a well hidden bobby pin, making it much more clean and neat. Summer came running to them, her arms flailing about.

"Guys! We have to go now! Everybody else has been waiting for forever!" Luckily, Cera was the last one to get ready. The redhead slipped into her stilettos before gliding across the room, opening the door to see the males crowding the hallway.

Her hands were on her hips as she narrowed her eyes at all of them. Each of them had on a black tux, although their ties were different.

Taiyang's tie was gold, matching Raven's dress. When the guys went out to get the tuxedos and ties, she had told him to get a tie that would match her dress. It was adorable on how red Raven's cheeks were when she told him to match with her.

While Taiyang's was gold, Qrow's was black with a silver clip attached. Cera assumed that he already had someone to take to the dance, so she didn't bother with even looking at him directly. Her attention was turned to her teammates.

Orel's jacket was open, while his white shirt had two buttons unbuttoned. His tie was put on loosely. The expanded left wing with three lines running in the opposite direction to make a makeshift 'x' stood out from the simple black tie. Of course, the blonde also had his black and gold bangles on, although it looked as if he removed some of them. He left behind his black choker, but his hands and fingers were still wrapped in his signature black bandages.

The Faunus simply shook her head, a small smile on her face before she took a good look at Yukio.

He had on a classic black tuxedo; black tie, white turn-down shirt with black studs, black trousers and of course, a black single button jacket. His silver necklace wasn't visible, to which Cera assumed he tucked in to hide beneath his shirt. On his tie was the silhouette of a curled blade whip with a snow flurry pattern filling it in.

Cera mentally nodded, approving of how he had dressed. It was when she glanced at Nero that she found herself not able to look away from him.

Nero's tuxedo was white, save for the fact that his shirt underneath was a contrasting black. His white tie had a black silhouette of dual pistols crossed against each other, wrapped in chains. He had his silver cross chain earring on his right ear and his white gloves, although there were a few silver rings on his digits. Finishing his outfit would be black suspenders that hung at his thighs.

The redhead tried her best to look away. She really did. Instead, Cera found herself being drawn in. She was about to compliment him on how he looked until Qrow let out a low whistle.

"So you really can clean up, Lizard." Cera narrowed her eyes at Qrow, who only shrugged nonchalantly. Summer and Raven popped up behind the Faunus, smiles on their faces as they were all ready.

"Let's get going! I'm sure it'll be fun!"

* * *

Summer wasn't wrong when she thought that it would be fun.

Fun for them? Yes.

Fun for Cera? Not even close to it.

She was currently occupying herself with filling up her cup with some more punch from the punch bowl. The redhead suddenly found her empty cup crushed before she could even fill it, her grip tightening around it.

Cera didn't enjoy being stared at, not one bit. The staring had begun when all of them had walked in, although most of them were from males. A hand was placed on her shoulder, making her turn around to see who it was.

"Feel like dancing, Cera?" She frowned.

"I don't dance, Yukio." He pulled her along anyways, much to her dismay. Her hands were placed on his shoulders, while Yukio's hands rested on her waist. Luckily, a slow song was playing so they didn't have to do much. The song felt like it would go on forever, and so Yukio decided to cut through the silence between them with a question.

"And why not, Cera?" The girl only sighed lightly.

"I used to dance. I just… I just don't anymore, since I haven't had a dance partner in… I don't know how many years." Yukio only gave her a small smile.

"Well then, what dances do you remember?" Cera took a moment to list them off in her head before she spoke.

"Waltz, Argentine tango, paso doble… and the samba." The male's eyebrows rose.

"Waltz?" Cera nodded. "Dance the waltz with me, then." She didn't bother with declining, as Cera knew that Yukio would cling onto her until they actually do a proper dance.

She placed her left hand on his upper arm, her other hand currently being held out to the side of them with Yukio's own hand. Yukio's free hand was resting on her back as Cera arched backwards just a bit.

Cera still didn't like physical contact, although she was slowly getting used to it.

The two of them took a couple of long strides before they spun, stopping every now and then so that the Faunus could get her bearings straight. It was mainly Yukio leading her to where they would be going, and Cera could do nothing else except follow him. A small smile was on her face, which Yukio had noticed.

It was clear to him that Cera disliked the thought of dancing, but she enjoys the act of it. Other students at the dance made enough room for both of them to dance in the middle. The spotlight always followed their bodies, and it continued like that until the music ended.

Yukio spun her away from him until someone else had grabbed her, to which she let out a small noise of confusion.

"Don't worry, Lizard. It's just your loving and fun Orel." She looked up at Orel, who had a grin plastered on his face. The smile was still evident on her face as one of her legs were hooked around his own, slowly sliding against him before being pulled away.

It took a while for Orel to get the message before his eyes lit up in recognition, the music changing to something a bit more fast paced.

"Tango." He placed his bandaged hand on the small of her back, his other hand intertwined with her own. Cera's hips swayed and swung to the music, and every now and then Orel would spin her body.

Their legs hooked each other to the rhythm, and when the music began getting louder, it was then that Orel had lifted her up, her body twisting against his until she came over his right shoulder. Executing the move itself made them seem like professionals under the spotlight, and it wasn't long until Orel had lifted her up again. Cera's free leg straightened up towards the air before she was let back down onto her feet.

Cera's face was right in front of Orel's, their eyes lingering on each other for a split second before they moved back into the rhythm. With one last spin, the music had ended, signaling the two to stop. The students around them gave a loud applause, some of the men whistling loudly.

The redhead only tried hiding her face behind her hands at the attention given to them. The blonde laughed lightly.

"I'm going to go take a breather outside." And before Cera could ask her question on how Orel knew how to dance, he was gone. Instead, in his place was Qrow. Cera cursed under her breath before he grabbed her, spinning her without permission as the music changed into something more dramatic.

Oh, he was going to pay for that.

She was playing along with his game, so when the crowd diverged to make a path as Qrow walked over to the wall to lean against it, she followed. With every step her stilettos clacked against the polished wood, her eyes a raging fire.

Her hands pushed him against the wall, her lips near his ears as one of his hands caressed the back of her head. A growl escaped from her throat.

"Let's see if you can keep up then, Birdbrain." Cera pushed herself away from him before they circled each other, as if they were about to fight then and there. His steps followed hers in every way possible until they both found themselves in their arms, spinning each other and moving to the intense rhythm.

They broke apart for a mere moment, clapping along to the beat before dancing in front of each other. Their steps were quick and nimble, and with every sharp movement that Cera made her dress would follow. She quickly backed away from Qrow, gesturing him to follow with a single finger.

And follow he did, as he quickly strode to catch up to her retreating figure. His hand latched onto hers, their arms around each other before they resumed their flawless dancing. The music had ended as quick as it had started, Cera's back arched with Qrow leaning over her.

Clapping and whistling ensued, although there were a few more whistlers rather than clappers. The redhead glared up at Qrow, who had a smirk on his face.

"Did that satisfy you, Lizard?" She scoffed before pulling herself back up, heading towards the doors that Orel had left through earlier.

"Hardly, Birdbrain."

"You know you liked it!" He shouted after her retreating figure. Taiyang walked up to him with Raven attached to his arm, an eyebrow raised. Qrow lightly nudged his unoccupied arm. "She totally liked it, am I right?"

Taiyang only sighed at Qrow's antics.

As soon as Cera had gone through the doors, she took in a deep breath of fresh air. The music that was blaring in her ears mere seconds ago was now reduced to quiet thumping, slowly being replaced by the sound of crickets. She had passed by Orel on her way out, explaining that she was tired and wanted to rest at the dorm.

Of course, he understood. Dancing for as long as she had without any breaks would be too much work to go back to enjoying the night.

* * *

The Faunus slipped into the dorm room, letting out a sigh that she never knew she held. Cera hadn't danced like that in years. It was slightly surprising as to how she's still able to dance. At the first thought of dancing, she immediately imagined pulling her hip or something.

She felt old.

Nonetheless, Cera kicked off her heels and removed her jewelry, immediately heading out to the balcony. As she opened the door, her eyebrows raised.

"Scarecrow?" The man in question turned to her, a slight smile on his face.

"Welcome back, Miss Cera. I take it that you had plenty of fun?" She walked up next to him, resting her elbows on the stone railing as she leaned forward.

"I guess… Where were you throughout all of it?" His gaze turned back to the shining moon up above, a few stars twinkling here and there.

"I apologize, a few students had asked me to dance with them." Cera slowly nodded.

"Goldilocks danced with me. Was tempted to rip off his bandages." Nero glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Did he now?" A small hum was her response.

"Did he ever take dance lessons?"

"He did. I taught him." Her head quickly whipped towards his direction. Nero was the one that taught him how to dance?

"And… Yuu?" He shook his head at that, a polite smile on his face as he chuckled.

"Yukio learned from his grandfather." Cera's gaze went back up to the stars, her surprise ebbing away. A few moments of silence had passed before she spoke up.

"Raven wanted me to dance four times tonight. Three for teammates, one for someone not in the team that asks me. I've danced three times already; Yukio, Orel, and Qrow." It was quiet for a moment, and as Cera turned to Nero she knew why. His gloved left hand was outstretched, waiting for her to take it.

"Nero, there's no music." His other hand reached into his pocket to pull out his scroll, dialing a few numbers before putting the device up to his ear.

"Yukio? Could you request a slow song and keep the call up?" Nero rested the scroll on the stone railing, putting it on speaker so that they could clearly hear the music being played. Cera chuckled lightly before taking his hand in hers.

Her arms were loosely wrapped around his neck, while his hands rested on her hips. Cera hesitated at first, but nonetheless laid her head on his chest. Nero's heartbeat quickened a bit just as Cera's did.

They stayed like that for a while, slowly swaying to the music. Even when Yukio hung up after the song had ended they stayed glued to each other, minus the swaying bit.

"I apologize for not being able to dance with you properly, Miss Cera." She shook her head ever so slightly before looking up at him.

"It's fine, Scarecrow. It's a nice break." Nero nodded a bit, a light smile on his facial features.

"Miss Cera, may I make a selfish request?" The girl in question tilted her head. "May we… stay like this for a while longer?" Cera had mentally shrugged at that. She saw nothing wrong with staying like they were now on the balcony.

And so they did just that, quietly enjoying the time spent together for what felt like an eternity.

* * *

 **Uwehh, not sure what to do in terms of trivia.**

 **I'm currently also writing little extras for the story, so of course that's always fun.**


	7. Ruts and Cleaning

**[A/N : Day late in updating. This chapter is much more shorter than the rest, as it barely reaches 2K words. Shit's going to get dark in terms of Cera's past. Just a small heads up.]  
**

 **Chapter 7 : Ruts and Cleaning**

* * *

 _Cera's father knew everything that happened around him. Even his daughter knew that._

 _Young Cera_ _had once again effortlessly flung her opponent over her shoulder._ _It was clear as day that she had her father's immense strength,_ _while from her mother's side she had gotten her gracefulness._

 _Although one ca_ _n argue that she resembles her father much more than her mother in terms of appearance. Large eyes that narrows in the same manner, the way she grumbles whenever something doesn't appeal to her, and even the way she communicated with others._

 _It was almost like a little female version of her father, and weirdly enough it was adorable._

 _"Alright class, that's enough for today. Pack up before your parents arrive to pick you up!" The male instructor spoke, his arms crossed over his chest. The children in the room sent glares over at Cera's way as they helped up the recently flung opponent._ _The young Faunus merely ignored them as she took off her plain karate gear._ _It was when she began leaving that the whispers started._

 _"_ _Look at her, acting like she's special."_

 _"Yeah, she's only acting like that because she's a Vermilion."_

 _"She isn't even nice."_

 _"I heard that she crushed her piano teacher's fingers because they told her she played the song wrong."_

 _"What? If that's true then we shouldn't be talking about her!"_

 _"Who cares?"_

 _"I do! I want to keep my fingers!"_

 _Cera's family was known for their cold personality_ _and ruthless nature. Even though they were all in all, a happy family, they still put on the front that a Vermilion shouldn't be so easily readable. Her father would always keep a straight face during work, his eyes narrowed to show that he took his work seriously._

 _While going out,_ _her mother's head was held up high_ _with her eyes half-lidded._ _She didn't bother with talking to others unless she was spoken to, but even then she would sound less than interested in the topic currently being discussed._

 _If a family was brave enough, they would ask Cera's mother or father if they would have dinner together. Whenever that happened, the family would usually be surprised or shocked at how warm and inviting the Vermilions were. It was clearly the opposite of what they were in public._

 _And so, near the end of dinner_ _when Cera was escorted upstairs to sleep,_ _Cera's father would be asked_ _a_ _question_ _every now and then_ _;_ _why would they need a mask?_ _Why would he want to hide this side of his family?_

 _"_ _You never know when someone will be your enemy, especially when they'll do drastic things to break you down. They can take away your loved ones, torture you in a secluded room with no way of escape, or even try to weasel in and become buddy buddy only to stab you in the back. We wouldn't want that happening to me or you, no?"_

 _The day after the dinner would be the usual for little Cera; school, piano tutoring, karate, dinner, sleep. Although today, she woke up a bit earlier than usual only to see her father's suit splattered with a dark red substance._

 _"Papa? What are you doing?"_ _He would only give her a warm smile, a pat on the head, then tell her to get ready for school._

 _"And Cera, whatever you do, don't go into the dining hall." Of course, since Cera was a daddy's girl she listened to every word that came out of his mouth. So after her bubble bath with her rubber duck, Mr. Quackers, she was driven to school by her mother._

 _Cera's father knew that his daughter would listen to him and his mother. Why wouldn't she?_

 _The dining hall was disgusting, really; blood everywhere with shreds of fabric here and there, along with some bloodied bones in a pile on a large plate that was set where Cera's father usually sat at the rectangular table._

 _He really didn't want Cera to see the dining hall._

* * *

Team OCYN was certainly in a rut. They decided that it would be best to hold a sparring session between one another before the combat tournament, but what they didn't expect was that Yukio absolutely refused to take part in it.

They were all currently outside after helping a few of the booths finish setting up, as the combat tournament was only two days away.

The team leader's eyebrows raised slightly as she waited for his explanation, the other two members sitting next to them on the grass beneath them.

"Well, you see.. I'm not one for fighting people, Cera. I'll fight the Nevermore, but I won't ever fight people whether they're good or bad." Cera's legs were crossed as she listened. "My grandmother taught me that there's good in everybody, even if they're a bad person. They all have lives, families, and even loved ones waiting for them to come back. I just… I just won't be able to fight another person."

"Yuu, we'll be fine. It's not like you want to kill us or anything!" Orel exclaimed, a hand on his shoulder.

"And from what I remember, Principal Norwen explained that the fights would only last until your opponent's aura is depleted." Nero chimed. Yukio still looked unsure about the whole thing.

Cera quietly got up, only letting out a small sigh as she thought to herself. They could continue with having Yukio watch, but…

"Come on, Lizard! We're going to grab some food!" Orel and the other two were walking ahead with him, heading towards the cafeteria entrance. She frowned at that, but nonetheless jogged towards them.

A messy cafeteria with Team STRQ scrubbing the whole place clean wasn't what they had in mind when Orel opened the doors.

Food was splattered everywhere and tables were strewn about. It clearly looked like it was a war zone, but with… Food.

Summer was cleaning off the fruit from the wall, while Taiyang and Raven picked up various fruits, meats and vegetables off the ground to place into the trash can. Qrow, however, was swabbing the stained marble ground with a wet mop. A bucket of water was next to his feet, but what really made Cera's day was that he was in a frilly apron.

The Faunus covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her smile as she glanced away. However, Orel decided to laugh loudly right then and there. A bandaged finger was pointed at the apron-clad male.

"Wh-who made you put **that** on, Qrow?! It's fucking great!" Nero frowned at Orel's foul language, although he couldn't help but agree that the apron on Qrow was hilarious. Yukio, on the other hand, had his hands on his hips.

"Guys! I wore an apron while helping out my grandmother, you know!" Orel wiped away a stray tear.

"But yours was around the waist and non-frilly, Yuu. Qrow's is just… Pffft!" Cera only shook her head before she looked over at Taiyang.

"What happened here, anyways?" The blonde scratched his cheek with a finger, a nervous smile on his face.

"Well, you see…"

* * *

Team STRQ sat at their table in the middle of the cafeteria, trays filled with various foods and drinks. Summer was practically inhaling her food, while Raven was sitting across from her as to make sure she doesn't choke. Taiyang sat next to her, while Qrow was sitting across from him, currently occupied with staring at girls nonchalantly.

Qrow didn't deny the fact that he was good looking. If the girls around him were always a blushing mess when he walked by, then by all means it told him that he was handsome. Although, it irked him that there was a certain Faunus that didn't care at all.

His teammates? Good friends of his and they're not romantically interested in each other. Taiyang was dating his sister, while Summer was like a little sister to him. He was certain that he wasn't gay for the blonde man.

Taiyang only shook his head as Qrow winked at the girls passing by their table.

"Dude, you're going to need a girlfriend." Qrow just gave his teammate a small shrug.

"It's not like I'm interested in them anyways. Besides, it's mostly my little buddy down there doing the thinking." His sister raised an eyebrow at that as the black-haired man began drinking his canned soda.

"First of all, that's disgusting. Secondly, if someone were to be your girlfriend it would definitely be Cera." Qrow spat out his drink to the side, clearly finding the idea of dating the Faunus repulsive.

"As if I'd go out with Lizard! I'm totally fine with her falling for me, but dating her? Sounds like a fucking nightmare." Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Language, Qrow." He only crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at a random spot on the ground.

"I'm eighteen, Raven. I don't need a filter."

"Eighteen and still no girlfriend. Real smooth, Qrow." Qrow's attention was turned to Taiyang as the two glared at each other intensely.

"Guys! No fighting!" Summer exclaimed, a frown on her face. Both of them had backed down, although the glares were still harsh. Qrow's gaze turned to a student passing by with mashed potatoes on his plate.

The next thing Team STRQ knew, Taiyang's face was covered with mashed potatoes, with Qrow's right hand shaking off the rest of it that didn't fly to his teammate. The creamy food slid down the blonde's face, his eye twitching.

"…Oh it's on."

* * *

"…And that was how we ended up having to clean up the whole cafeteria." Taiyang concluded. Cera clearly had nothing to say, deciding to turn around and leave to go back outside.

"Come on, we're going to try and work on Yuu's situation." Qrow leaned the mop against the wall, his arms crossed.

"What, you're not going to help us clean?" The redhead paused in her steps, turning her head to look at him from the corner of her eye.

"We were never part of your food fight, now were we?" She turned her head forward and resumed walking, her teammates trailing behind her as if they had no choice in the matter. The girl was right anyways.

As they were leaving, Cera had noticed that Orel had a depressed aura around him. She sighed, clearly knowing the reason for it.

"Fine. We can go back and help them." His mood immediately perked up at that.

"Thanks, Lizard!" The boy gave her a quick hug before he turned around, dashing back into the cafeteria with enthusiasm. Yukio ran after him, yelling something about being careful.

Cera and Nero were left behind to stare at each other awkwardly in the middle of the large hallway.

Memories of last night shot through the redhead's mind, resulting in her looking away first.

"We should catch up to them." Cera began walking back to the cafeteria, faintly hearing Orel's loud laughter. Nero cleared his throat and adjusted his tie before following her footsteps.

Who knew the Faunus could be adorable when she blushes.

* * *

 **The updates will most likely come in a bit slower, but nothing you should be worried about unlike my two other stories which I clearly have no idea what to do with.**

 **If you have any questions, by all means, ask them. /Shrug**

 **I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities without spoiling anything.**


	8. Author's Note

Ran: It's been a while.

Cera: Well you've been busy with work and your boyfriend, so I can kind of see why it would've taken almost.. How long?

Ran: Forever.

Cera: Riiight. Forever.

Nero: Well, while Miss Cera is comforting Miss Ran due to her boyfriend being gone for a music festival for two weeks, I shall be the bearer of good news and bad news.

The good news is that Miss Ran will be continuing this story. She'll even be completely revamping it so that it doesn't seem too cluttered.

Orel: Bad news is that because it'll be tooootally revamped, Drakon Rev will be published as a different story! Less action! More romance between Cera and I! More fights! Pew pew pew!

Cera: More fights but less action, Orel? Seriously?

Orel: I'm trying my best here!

Yukio: Worry not though, because rewriting the story comes with newer things; more of our backgrounds before we came to Beacon, more bonding time between OCYN and STRQ, and I have heard that Ran is thinking about a joint mission between the two.

Ran: So until then, this will be discontinued and the newer version will be put up under practically the same name!

Thank you for reading Drakon Rev! I hope to see you in Drakon Rev: Reminisci!


End file.
